Secret Masquerade
by Sakura2cute4u
Summary: Sakura recieves a mission from the Snow Country to kill Sasuke who is a major threat to society.Her only chance to kill him is at a masquerade ball,but there is a question that hunts Sakura's mind:Will she be able to kill her only love? WILL BE REWRITTEN!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody, and as you can see, I've modified some things in this chapter and corrected my grammar mistakes (at least some of them). For those who didn't read the initial chapter, this fanfic is inspired from a trailer on youtube, so most of the accomplishments should go to Envy-chan!**

**I really really really hope you'll like it :D**

**P.S.-please watch the trailer on youtube**

**You'll find the link on the bottom of my profile^^**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 1~**

_No__body knows how hard it is for me_

_To fulfill my duty for the Snow Country,_

_To kill the man with whom I grew up,_

_The man that caused a lot of pain,_

_To me and to his closest friend,_

_The man who took my heart_

_And who also broke it apart,_

_The man that I've tried to save,_

_From the darkness and hate but failed…_

_Nobody knows how hard it is for me_

_To kill the man that killed thousands,_

_The man that was always there for me,_

_Who cheered me up and made me smile_

_Even just for a while,_

_The man that I was supposed to hate_

_Because he betrayed _

_Not only his village,_

_Not only his friends,_

_But me…_

_Now I'm sitting before the mirror,_

_Thinking of what to do_

_When I'm going to find you,_

_When I'm going to kill you…_

_I'm now putting on the disguise_

_With which I'm going to follow you,_

_So you cannot recognize _

_The one who is going to take your life _

_With tears in her eyes,_

_She doesn't want to do it,_

_She doesn't want to lose you too_

_Like she lost her other friend,_

_The one that was the closest to you…_

_Now I'm done with my make-up _

_And I'm ready to go,_

_So I take some steps towards the door_

_And think about the moments when you and I were together,_

_Not as a team, but as two lovers._

_My legs keep moving towards the exit of the village,_

_As my heart tries to stop me from coming towards you;_

* * *

"_Good morning Konoha! It's 5 am and the sun will be up pretty soon! I'm Kotetsu and now some news! Dear genins, today will be the final test for the Chunin Exam, so be prepared for some difficult fights! The test will start at 12 am and-"_

The pink haired kunoichi turned off the radio. She slowly got up from bed and stretched as she started yawning.

'Gosh, Kotetsu's getting more and more annoying with every morning!' she thought as she headed towards the bathroom 'I still wonder why Shishou let him make a radio station…I think that this will remain a mystery' she sighed as she closed the bathroom door.

* * *

Sakura Haruno is a living legend in her home village. At only 17 years old, the pink haired teenager with jade eyes and porcelain skin is not only one of the most beautiful girls in the village, but is also the most powerful girl at her age. She is an extraordinary talented medic-nin which developed more than 20 new medical jutsus that could cure even the most severe disease, and is also the leader of the Anbu Black Ops. She is the most searched ninja from all countries that was sent on dangerous missions which involved assassinating rouge ninjas and body guarding important peoples.

Despite her unusual strength and courage, she is not a human Ice cube. Sakura is a very sensitive and friendly girl. She always shows her emotions, even though a ninja isn't allowed to. She has been through both easy and hard situations, most of them having a negative impact on her and caused her pain.

When she was a genin, she was in love with Sasuke Uchiha, who is now a rouge ninja, a ninja whose heart is full of darkness and hate. But Sasuke wasn't always like this. He was known as the hottest genin in the village, the last survivor of the Uchiha clan and last but not least, the human ice cube. But nobody got so close to him to have a chance to see the real him. Only she did.

They were in love. A love so strong that nothing and nobody could tear it apart. That was what they thought before they met him. The man that changed Sasuke's life completely: Orochimaru. He promised him power, enough power with which Sasuke could have killed his brother.

Then came the night when Sakura's heart was broken. The night when Sasuke left her, the night with full moon…The night that Sakura thinks of every night, with tears in her eyes. She tried to get over it, but couldn't. She tried to forget him, the man that broke her heart, but couldn't. Even though she heard that Sasuke killed a lot of innocent people, her feeling for him didn't change. She still loves him, and still waits for him. But he didn't show up so far…

If it wasn't enough the pain that Sasuke caused her, came the event that broke her heart once again. Her comrade, her team mate, her friend had passed away. Naruto, the one that she considered annoying when she was a genin, and a brother after Sasuke left was now gone…

* * *

Sakura was at the hospital, examining some patients. Most of them were children that got injured during the Chunin Exam. She was taking care of every little injury they had, so they can start training as soon as possible. She was now taking care of the last one. She heard someone knocking at the door.

"Come in" she said. A woman with short black hair and onyx eyes entered the door.

"Sakura. Tsunade wants to see you immediately." The woman said

"Alright." The pink haired medic-nin said while getting up from the bed where she was healing the patient. "Shizune, can you please take care of this child's wounds?"

"Hai" Shizune answered.

"Good" Sakura said as she headed towards the door.

* * *

After a while, she arrived at the Hokage Tower. She slowly headed towards Tsunade's office. She took a big breath of air and knocked two times at the door before she opened it.

"Tsunade-sama" she said while walking in, slowly closing the door behind her. She looked at her left and saw that there were two guys sitting on a couch.

"Sakura…these two men are Hoshi Mabuchi and Masuda Yuri. They are the leaders of two Anbu teams from the Snow Country." They both got up from the couch and headed towards Sakura.

"Hello" she said confused 'What's happening here?' she thought "I'm Sakura Haruno, leader of the Konoha Hospital and Anbu Black Ops" She shake hands with both of them before they went back on the couch.

"Sakura, they are here to ask for your help" Tsunade said while drinking a cup of tea.

"My help?" she asked

"Yes" Tsunade answered "You see, Sasuke was seen in the Snow Country"

"Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura said surprised. She hasn't heard his name for a long period of time.

One of the anbu got up and headed towards Sakura. He gently put his hand on her shoulder. Sakura turned her head towards him.

"Sakura-san. You must help us kill Uchiha, before he makes another victim."  
"Another victim? What are you talking about!?

"Uchiha kidnapped some very important personalities from our country, and we know that he will strike again very soon."

"B-but why kill him? He can-" but was brutally interrupted by Tsunade

"Because, in their country Sasuke is a major threat to society"

"But I still don't get it! Why me? Why am I supposed to kill him? Why can't the ninjas from the Snow Country handle it?" she said as a tear rolled town her cheek.

"We tried, but somehow Uchiha knew that we were following him so he killed all our ninjas that were after him."

Sakura took a step forward. "And why would I make the difference?"

"Because he won't expect you to be there" the anbu smirked

"Even if I would go, he will still recognize me"

"You will go disguised" Tsunade said

"Disguised? In what? A princess?"

"Pretty close, Sakura-san"

Sakura turned her head towards the anbu in surprise. You could hear in his voice that he was talking serious.

"You will wear a ball dress and-"

"Don't you guys think that this disguise would be too, um…noticeable? I mean, I couldn't wear that while following Sasuke. He will immediately notice me."

"You didn't let me finish" the anbu sighed "You will wear that dress, some gloves, high heels,…" and as the list continued, Sakura threw a strange look towards the anbu "and last, but not least, you will wear a mask"

"Ok" she closed her eyes and crossed her arms "I now come back to my previous question. Isn't the disguise too noticeable?"

"No, not at all." The other anbu said "Every woman will wear a dress there"

"There?"

"At the masquerade ball." The anbu said.  
"Wait!" she made some steps towards the anbu that was on the couch "A masquerade ball? What would Sasuke-kun do in such a place?"

"Kidnapping." He said as he got up off the couch "It is the safest place where he can kidnap those peoples that I've told you about earlier. He will wear a mask too." The anbu started walking around the office "Even if he doesn't wear a mask, nobody would know who he is. Only the anbu knows."

"I am going to ask again. Why me? Why me of all?" the emerald eyed kunoichi asked.  
"Because he knows all of our ninjas, so it is impossible for us to kill him." He stopped right in front of Sakura and put both his hands on her shoulders "When we came here to ask your country's help, we talked with the Godaime about Uchiha's past and we found out that you and he had a pretty close relationship."

"You were his girlfriend" the other one came towards her "that's why he won't be able to kill you. His heart won't let him do it"

Sakura let her head down. Locks of pink hair went over her face as a tear went down her porcelain skin.

"His heart was eaten by darkness and hate, so he won't hold back. He will attack me with all his force" she said with a sad voice. Both anbu looked at her.

"Sakura-san…we're sorry for hearing this, but please…you are the only one who can kill him"

"I am the only one who can kill him…" she whispered. She raised her head "Let me think about it"

"Sure. I know it is hard for you to make a decision right now."

Sakura faked a smile and headed towards the door.

"Sakura-san." She turned her head "We hope that you will make the right decision"

"Ok" she whispered "I'll let you know what I have decided tomorrow" she went out the door.

The anbu went back on the couch. Tsunade let her head down. "You know…" both the anbu turned their heads towards the hokage "It will be hard for her to decide. She still has feeling for him"

* * *

It was 7 Pm. Sakura was entering the flower shop with a sad look on her face. Since that discussion with those anbu, she didn't even smile. She was still thinking about what to do. To accept the mission and kill her only love, or to let Sasuke free to kill innocent peoples? She didn't know the answer. She looked at the delicate flowers and saw some roses. She picked one of them and went towards the cash register.

"Hey, what's with that face? What happened?" The blond kunoichi asked.

"Nothing Ino…" she said as she gave the rose and money to Ino. Ino smiled

"You're going to visit Naruto?" she asked as she gave Sakura the rose back.

"Yeah" Sakura smiled back.

* * *

Sakura was now at the cemetery. She sat down on her knees and put the rose on Naruto's grave. She closed her eyes and smiled as a tear escaped her eye.

"Hey. It's me. I just came here to ask for your help." She opened her eyes as she sighed "Look. Today, two anbu from the Snow Country came to ask my help to kill Sasuke. It seems that he is a threat to their society and I just don't know what to do…What do you say? What should I do? I mean, I is weird that I'm asking your help, but" She got up from the cold ground "I hope you'll give me a sign of what to do" she turned around and headed towards her flat.

'I miss you Naruto…' she thought

* * *

_Sakura was on a field full of flowers. She was lyin__g on the ground, next to a tree. She was looking at the beautiful light blue cloudless sky. It was so peaceful, so quiet. Suddenly, the sky was full of dark clouds. The wind started blowing faster. Sakura got up from the ground, shocked of what was happening. A lightning touched the ground, very close to were Sakura was, as it started raining. _

"_Sakura-chan" she heard someone say. She turned her head and saw her blond teammate._

"_Naruto?" she said surprised as she turned around and headed towards him. "Is this real?" she tapped Naruto on the cheek. Naruto grabbed her hand and hold it tight._

"_I wish it were" he said as he let his head down. "I came here because you asked my help. Look. You have two options. One: You kill him and you will be the only one who will suffer, or two: You will let him live and thousands of people will have to suffer. You choose. I really hope you will make the right decision." Naruto started disappearing. _

"_Naruto? You're-"  
"I know" he let go of her hand "I miss you Sakura-chan" he said before he totally disappeared. _

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she woke up. She got up from bed and headed towards the window. The sun was about to rise. She looked at the sky. The colors changed from blue to light pink and then to yellow. A tear went down her cheek as a smile appeared on her lips.

* * *

"I'll do it" Sakura said as she opened the hokage's door. The two anbu looked at her, smiling.

"Good. We'll head towards the Snow Country in two hours. Go and pack some stuff and meet us at the exit of the village."

"Hai!" she responded smiling.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Envy-chan, I hope that it is better than the other one and I really hope you'll like it ^^**

**I received a review in which**** Ilovemusic11 ****asked me what happened to Naruto. Well you will all find out at the right moment :D**

**I want to thank you all for reading my story, especially those who review too.**

**P.S.-Don't forget to look at the trailer!!!**

**Hugs and kisses**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Important! I've changed some things in this chapter!! Read :)**

**Again, I want to thank you all for reading my story and those who watched the trailer on youtube. It means a lot for me and Envy-chan ^^**

**Please review and tell me your opinion!!**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 2~**

"_I'll do it" Sakura said as she opened the hokage's door. The two anbu looked at her, smiling. _

"_Good. We'll head towards the Snow Country in two hours. Go and pack some stuff and meet us at the exit of the village."_

"_Hai!" she responded smiling._

End of recap

Sakura was walking down the street, slowly. She was in deep thinking. 'Am I doing the right thing?' was the question that hunted her mind since she last talked with those anbu. "Of course it is the right thing" she said to herself "That way nobody would have to suffer" She tried to cheer herself up, but the thought of her killing Sasuke was enough to make her tremble.

She was now passing Ino's flower shop. She took some steps towards the door but stopped right in front of it. The pink haired kunoichi looked inside. Ino was all alone, sitting on a wooden chair with her arms and legs crossed. She looked upset.

"Hey" she said as she took some steps towards Ino "What's with that sad face?" Sakura took a sit on a chair that was right next to Ino. The blond haired kunoichi looked at her surprised. Her eyes were red and wet.

"Sad?" she asked "Maybe mad is the right word" she said as she got up and took a couple of steps. "How could you!?" She turned around to face Sakura.

"How could I what?" the girl asked confused.

"How could you accept a mission in which you have to kill Sasuke-kun?" she asked as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. Sakura let her head down.

"Who told you this?" she asked with a sad voice.

"I heard it earlier. I was supposed to bring to Tsunade-sama some reports, but I heard you when you accepted the mission and your little discussion with those ninjas, so I came back, running."

"Ino…" she whispered. Sakura got up and headed towards her.

"How can you be so heartless? I always thought that you loved him!" she yelled.

"Ino…" she whispered once again before she gave her a hug "I…I didn't have a choice" she explained to her as a tear felt down her cheek.

"You did have a choice" Ino said as she hugged her tightly. "You really did"

"No, I haven't…" Sakura said as she started crying harder. "I could let Sasuke live, but then lots of people would have to suffer, so I didn't had a choice…" she whispered as she closed her emerald pools. "I'm so sorry Ino…I still love him, but this is my duty and I have to fulfill it, even if it breaks my heart to do it" she said, slowly opening her eyes. She took a big breath of air "Only I will have to suffer, but not for long, because I have a plan" she said, her express still the same.

"A plan?" Ino widened her big blue eyes as she broke the hug, wiping her tears away. Sakura just nodded. "So, what is it about?"

Sakura turned around and started walking towards the door. "You'll find out pretty soon" she smiled as she stepped out of Ino's flower shop.

"Good luck and take care of yourself!" she heard Ino scream. "I'll see you soon!"

"Yeah, I'll see you soon…" she whispered as she smiled sadly. A tear escaped her eye as she walked home. She immediately wiped it away with her arm.

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She entered her flat, slowly closing the door behind her. She headed towards her room and opened her wardrobe. She decided to pack some ordinary clothes, and not her ninja outfits.

"But what should I pack?" she asked herself "In the Snow Country is cold, right?" she took some steps towards her wardrobe"Right!" She opened the wardrobe's door and sighed "Damn it! I don't have winter clothes in here. I wonder if…" she walked to the closet and opened it. She looked closely after some winter clothes and "Yes! Found them" she said proudly as she got them out the closet and started packing them.

"Perfect!" she said smiling.

Sakura took some steps towards the mirror. She looked at her reflection. Soon, her smile disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun will still recognize me, I'm sure of it. I'm the only girl he knows with pink hair. I must do something about it." She went in the bathroom and found a little bottle. She picked it up.

"Hair dyer!" she said as a smile appeared on her lips "But what color? It doesn't write!" she sighed "Oh well, as long as my hair won't be pink anymore, it doesn't matter"

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"Oh my gosh!" Sakura screamed. She took another step towards the mirror, closely examining her hair. Her long pink hair was no longer pink. It was a light blonde.

"I look almost like Tsunade, but with green eyes, much taller, much younger and with smaller boobs." She giggled "Now I'm positively sure that Sasuke-kun won't recognize me"

Sakura turned around and grabbed her backpack. She went at her desk and grabbed the old photo of Team 7 and put it in the backpack. She took some steps towards the door and opened it, but before she could make another step, a familiar voice passed through her mind.

"_What are you prowling here in the middle of the night?"_

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered softly, slowly closing her jade eyes. Soon, the memory of the night that caused her a lot of pain, not only then, but even now entered her mind.

"_I knew you'd come this way if you were to leave…" Sakura said as she stand before him. "So I've waited here" _

"_Get out of here and go back to sleep" Sasuke said as he passed Sakura. Her pools were full of tears. Not able to hold them back for too long, they escaped Sakura's jade eyes and went down her pale skin._

"_You know, I thought that if you were to leave you will tell me…" she whispered. Sasuke stopped._

"_Why should I tell you, anyway?" he asked coldly._

"_Because we are together and I thought-"  
"You thought that if you and I are together that means that I have to tell you everything? Well if you thought this, you're wrong"_

"_I just wanted to help you" she said as more tears escaped her eyes._

"_I don't need your help; I don't need anyone's help. Now go home and don't look after me." He said as she started walking away from her._

"_You know, right after we found out that you and I will be a team, you started to hate me." after hearing that, Sasuke stopped " I don't know why…maybe because you thought that I was just a fan girl of yours. But when you and I got pretty close, you stopped hated me. Remember?" she sai__d with as a pale smile appeared on her lips, tears still falling down._

"_I don't remember hating you" _

"_That's because it's all in the past, huh? Right after you started to know me better, you stopped" Sakura took a couple of steps towards Sasuke "And we started spending more time together. You and me, and Naruto and Kakashi-sensei…You know, I won't forget those times" Suddenly her smiled has disappeared. She sighed "I know all about your past, Sasuke-kun. And even if you get your revenge, this won't bring anyone happiness. Nobody at all…Not you" she sighed "and not me"_

"_I already know__ that" he smirked "I'm different from you and Naruto. I can't follow the same path as you guys…All we've done together, we've done it like a group. But this is a thing that I must do alone. Deep inside my heart, I've already decided on revenge. And this is the only thing I'm living for."_

_After hearing that, Sakura's heart broke into millions of pieces. She started crying harder and harder. She just couldn't believe that he actually said that. Months ago she was the only thing he was living for, and now he said this? _

"_You really__ want to go back to being alone?!" she yelled "You told me how painful it was for you to be all alone, and now you're going to that again?" She let her head down, locks of pink hair covered her face"Right now, I know your pain! I may have family and friends, but if you were to leave, it would be the same thing to me as being all alone!" She raised her head, hoping that Sasuke would turn around, but was disappointed to see that he didn't._

"_From now on, all of us will begin new paths."_

_Sakura took a step forward and put her hand on the left side of her chest._

"_I, I love you with all my heart, you know that?!" _

"_Yeah" he closed his coal pools "I know that" he said before he opened them back._

"_And I know that you love me just like I love you!"_

"_Sakura…" he whispered as he turned around._

"_And that's why I can't let you leave me! At least take me with you, so I can help you with your revenge!" she said, her eyes were red and wet__.  
"I've told you before: I don't need your help" he turned around and started walking away from her. Sakura got mad and started running after him._

"_I won't let you go!" she screamed, almost reaching him. Suddenly Sasuke disappeared. Sakura stopped. 'Where did he go?' she thought. She suddenly felt a warm breath against her neck._

_The wind started blowing faster and faster. Locks of pink hair covered Sakura's face, as she heard Sasuke sigh._

"_Please, don't go…" she whispered.__ Sasuke took Sakura's left hand and held it tightly._

"_Thank you, for everything" she heard him whisper before she blanked out._

Sakura was sitting on the floor. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, her head laid down on her knees. She took a big breath of air.

"Why did I have to remember this right now?" she asked herself while the salted liquid traveled her cheeks until it reached her chin.

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Thomas Haynes Bayly once said: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". I first examined this saying when I was together, with you…I remember that this saying is about how can absence make you forget about all the mistakes your lover has done, and remember only the good parts about him. Until that night, I thought that Thomas's saying was right, but now I don't think the same. It didn't erase the mistake that you did that night, Sasuke-kun…It really didn't…

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**A/N:**

**Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry that this chapter was kind of short, but the next one will be longer, I promise!**

**Please review!!!**

**Love you all!!**

**~Sakura2cute4u~ **


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, so first, sorry for the late update, but I was/am so busy with school that I didn't have time to write T-T**

**But now I'm back with new ideas and I really hope you will love/like them =D**

**I want to thank you all for your reviews so far, and I hope I won't be boring you with this chapter.**

**And the last thing I want to tell you before you'll start reading the chapter is that I changed some things in the previous chapter ^^**

**Enjoy :3**

**Secret Masquerade **

**~Chapter 3~**

The blond haired kunoichi was on her way towards the graveyard. She had a bunch of daisies in her right hand. She was walking with her head down, the powerful wind blowing her beautiful long hair. Her emerald pools were no longer red or wet, sign that she stopped crying minutes ago.

She arrived at the entrance on the graveyard and stopped. She saw in the distance, near Naruto's grave, a familiar figure. It was a tall young man, with short black hair that wore a black midriff shirt and some black pants. Sakura slowly headed towards him, her expression still the same.

"Hey Sai…" she said while passing him. She stopped in front of Naruto's grave and sat on her knees before she put the flowers on the grave.

"Ugly" he said smiling "Haven't seen you since…last year?"

"Yeah, whatever…" she mumbled. Sai just looked at her, before he put his hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong ugly? Did something happen?"

Sakura slowly turned her head towards him and gave him a fake smile.

"Nothing's wrong"

"You know" Sai smirked "I know you're faking it." He sat down, next to Sakura. "So tell me what happened."

"What? You've read a book in which you learned to listen to people's problems?" A tinny smirk appeared on her lips after saying that.

"Actually, yes" he responded smiling. Sakura turned her head towards him in surprise. She smiled.

"You haven't change…you're still the same"

"I know. You haven't change at all too" A faded blush appeared on her cheeks "You're still the same ugly girl I once knew" he closed his eyes, still smiling.

"Yep, you're still the same!"

"So what happened? Are you going on a mission?" he pointed towards Sakura's backpack. Sakura just nodded. "Does this mission have Sasuke involved?"

Sakura widened her eyes in shock. "How did you know? Don't tell me you've read it in a book."

"No, I didn't. I just guessed it." He said while he took a lock of her hair in his hand. "And, this new look is for the mission too, right?"

"Yeah…I decided that he wouldn't recognize me if I change my hair color"

Sai put the lock down on her shoulder and rose up. He looked on Naruto's grave and smiled. "Do you visit Naruto everyday?"

Sakura got up from the ground and cleaned her knees from the dirt.

"Actually, yes" she turned around to face him "How did you figured out?" a tiny smile appeared on her lips, this time, a real one.

He just pointed towards the roses. "They are still fresh"

After the last sentence, silence took over. Neither Sakura nor Sai said a word. They just looked at each other. Sakura let her head down.

"I must go" she whispered softly. She put her arms around Sai's waist and hugged him. He was really surprised that she hugged him. It was because she had no one else to hug, or because she really wanted to? Although this questions Sai put to himself were kind of true, the real reason was that Sakura, by hugging him, was saying goodbye to him…forever.

She didn't want Sai to remember her as being a short temperate teenager that was always slapping or punching him because he didn't obey her or because he said a lot of bad things about Sasuke. She wanted him to remember her as his team mate, the one that saved his life so many times, but also she wanted him to remember her as his friend.

Sai put his arms around Sakura's shoulders, and hugged her tightly. After they broke the hug, Sakura took several steps towards the gates of the graveyard.

"Sakura!" she heard him calling her name. She turned her head and saw that Sai was coming towards her in a rush. "You're going towards the exit of the village?" Sakura just nodded. "Then I'll come with you" he said as a smile appeared on his lips."

"Ok"

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On the way towards the village's gates, Sakura told him everything that she knew about the mission. She told him she has to kill Sasuke at a masquerade ball because everyone thinks that he is a criminal.

Of course, since he's with Akatsuki, there were so many rumors about Sasuke killing a lot of innocent people because he was ordered to, or steeling and even kidnapping. First, Sakura didn't wanted to believe them, but after Konoha was destroyed by Pain and his gang, he confirmed the fact that Sasuke was indeed, a criminal.

But only one thing was bothering her. He killed his brother, he got his revenge, but still he didn't come back. Sometimes, Sakura thinks about how her life could have been if Sasuke didn't leave the village that night. Or what would have happened if Yamato didn't interfered when she was fighting Sasuke, the first time she met him after he betrayed his village. Would Sasuke have killed her?

Sai was very quiet. It seemed like something was bothering him, but he didn't want to tell. Suddenly he stopped. Sakura turned her head towards him.

"What's the matter?" she asked as she came closer to him.

First, he looked at the ground, then in her big jade pools.

"I lied to you."

"You lied to me about what?" she asked confused.

He took a big breath of air "When I said that I've guessed that you have to go on a mission that involved Sasuke, I lied."

Sakura was still confused. She looked into his eyes.

"I already knew the mission you have."

"Root?" she asked, a little pissed off.

"Yes. You see, for the passed year, I've been in the Snow Country, spying on Sasuke." Sakura's eyes widened "First, I had the mission to kill him. But I failed. I didn't want to do it. I didn't wanted to kill your friend, so I came back home. That's when the ninjas from the Snow Country came to ask your help. They knew the power that you posses, and they also knew that you killed a lot of rogue ninjas from other counties. That's why they choose you."

Sakura looked at her feet. She was speechless. Sai continued "But I didn't want to tell you."

Sakura raised her head and looked at him. Tears started to form in her emerald eyes. Sai put his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to lie to you, because you're my friend"

She was surprised by the last part. She smiled.

"This is the first time you call me your friend."

"Does this bother you?" he asked. Sakura just responded with a big, lovable hug. Sai smiled as he put his arms around her shoulders "I guess not."

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"Thank you Sai for coming with me" she smiled and she closed her eyes.

"No problem" he said as he saw Sakura turning around "Hey!" Sakura turned her head towards him "You know, you're not that ugly after all" he waved goodbye.

"Thanks!" she laughed.

Sakura turned her head and started walking towards the two ninjas. With every step she took, she felt her heart beating faster. It was because of the feeling that she was going to finally see Sasuke, or because she was too afraid to think that in a few days, she was going to kill her loved one? She didn't know the answer. Her feelings were all messed up in her.

"I'm sorry I'm late"

"You aren't late" Masuda said. "You're here just in time" he smiled.

The other anbu, Hoshi was closely examining her. "Good plan to dye your hair." He smirked.

"Thank you" she smiled

"But bad plan to still wear your ninja outfit" the other one continued. "You should dress something else"

"Hai!" she responded. She looked around and spotted no place where she could change. She turned towards Masuda and Hoshi and looked confused. "Um, where can I…"

"Over there" Masuda pointed towards the woods. Sakura didn't say a word and headed towards the woods. She let her backpack down on the grass, sat on her knees and searched in it for some god damn clothes. She was pretty pissed right now.

'How dare they give me orders? I am the one who will do their dirty job because they are two stupid ass holes that can't even kill one god damn person and put that person's girlfriend to do it!' she thought.

Sakura got out from her backpack a green silk blouse and a black skirt. 'This should do'

After she got dressed, she took her headband off and put it in the backpack. She took some steps towards the anbu, and spotted someone standing next to them. That guy was looking at her. She was pretty far from them, like 20 meters. But as she stepped closer, she finally realized who it was.

'Danzo' she thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Haruno" he said "I hope you will kill him and not do what your team mate has done."

"Don't worry." She said "I will kill him"  
"Good" he smirked "Don't forget that we are all counting on you to kill that damn traitor."

If Sakura hadn't so much control over her, her fist would be in his face right now. Sakura didn't want to speak out her mind, so she just nodded.

"And let's hope that you will come home ali-"

"I will" she cut him off.

Danzo smirked again 'So I've pissed her off. Let's see how much she could remain calm' he thought. He came closer to her and whispered in her ear "After you kill him, I want you to bring me his head so I can use it as a trophy."

'That's it!' she thought as she raised her hand, punching him very hard in his abdomen. Danzo felt down on the ground. He started coughing blood. Both Masuda and Hoshi went to Sakura and hold her arms.

"Calm down Sakura-san"

She looked at Danzo. With his arm, he wiped the blood away from his mouth, still smirking.

"You don't have to lose your temper, Haruno." He said as he got up "If you care so much about Uchiha, how can I, or them, be sure that you will finish your mission?"

Sakura released from their grip and headed towards Danzo. "I will, OK?" she turned around and started walking away.

Danzo was so amused by Sakura's behavior that he wanted to annoy and anger her even more.

"Don't forget his head" he smirked. Sakura stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Let's go!" she said towards the two ninjas.

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**A/N: **

**Chapter 3 finally done! Well, my first impression about this chapter is that it's kind of boring -_-**

**But I so loved the last part when Danzo came in the scene.**

**I wish I could kill him (In this story), but who knows *evil smirk***

**Well I really hope you enjoyed chapter tree, chapter 4 will be coming up pretty soon!**

**Please review and tell me your opinion about this chapter^^**

**XOXO**

**~Sakura2cute4u~ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello dear readers. First I've got to apologize because I haven't update for such a long time, but I kind of lost inspiration, and I really wanted to update to my other fanfic, to finish it already.**

**I'll start writing it now, and since is 11:45 pm, I don't think I'll be able to finish it tonight.**

**Annonymous reviews are welcomed as well:P**

**Enjoy :D**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 4~**

Sakura, along with the other 2 ninjas arrived in Akifumi, a pretty small village, 100 kilometers away from Konoha. It was already noon, so they decided to take a short break and eat something. The young medic looked around, then pointed towards a small restaurant, not far from them. Both Masuda and Hoshi nodded and then followed the kunoichi as she entered the restaurant's door. They took a seat at the nearest table that was right next to the bar. A young woman dressed in a pink summer kimono got their orders and immediately brought the food and drinks.

Sakura had in front of her a plate on which was some sushi. Next to the plate, the pink haired teenager had a cup of hot mint tea. Although her stomach was begging for some food, she didn't felt hungry. She just looked at the plate, while the two anbu enjoyed their ramen.

After he finished eating, Masuda looked at Sakura, then at her plate. A long sigh escaped his lips before he started calling Sakura's name. But she didn't replied. She wasn't even listening. Her mind was somewhere else. She was thinking about a man. A man with spiky raven hair and beautiful onyx orbs. Uchiha Sasuke.

'I wonder how he will react when he'll see me. Will he be surprised? Mad?' She didn't know the answer to this question, although she wanted to. 'But most important, how am I going to react when I see him after all these years...' She sighed.

"Sakura-san" a voice said. But Sakura didn't pay any attention. She was lost in her thoughts.

'Does he ever thought about me? Even a little?'

"Sakura-san" the voice called her again.

'I mean, I think about him everyday.'

"Sakura-san. Are you alright?"

'I really wonder if he puts himself the same questions that I put to myself everyday.'

"Sakura-san." the man called again as he put his hand on her shoulder.

'Does he ever wonders how his life would have been if he didn't betrayed the village?'

Masuda stopped calling her name. He knew that it was useless. He just knew that she was thinking of Uchiha.

_'__"If you care so much about Uchiha, how can I, or them, be sure that you will finish your mission?"'_

Masuda got his hand off of Sakura's shoulder and put it on the table. What if Danzo was right? What if she isn't capable of killing him? Just like Tsunade said the day before: _"It will be hard for her to decide. She still has feelings for him"._

"Sakura-san" he started calling her name again.

"Hm?" she turned her head towards Masuda and Hoshi. They both looked at her confused.

"Are you alright? You didn't even touch your food." Hoshi said as he pointed towards her plate.

"I'm fine." Her pink lips formed a small but sweet smile. "Just thinking."

"You seem a little depressed...Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Masuda-san. Like I've said before: just thinking" she said as she turned her head away from them. The two ninjas looked at each other, and then looked back at Sakura. Masuda gently put his hand on the medic's shoulder. She immediately turned her head towards him.

"Sakura-san, are you sure you can do it?" Sakura looked at them surprised and then she let her head down. Locks of blonde hair covered her face, her smile no longer pressent on her lips.

"Yes." she replied "I'm positively sure I can do it."

"Because if you don't want to..."

"The point is that we don't want to force you." Hoshi continued. "So if you don't feel capable to do it, it's ok. We will head back to Konoha and we will find someone else to do it." he smiled. Silence took over. Sakura just didn't knew what to say. After a while she shook her head.

"I can do it. Seriously, I don't feel like I'm forced to."

"Are you sure?" one of the ninjas asked. The medic just nodded. Masuda smiled as he moved his hand off her shoulder and on the table. "Then eat up and let's head towards the next location."

"Hai!" she said as she took the chopsticks in her right hand and started eating.

XxXxX Secret Masquerade XxXxX

They were jumping from tree branch to tree branch. It has been 5 hours since they left the restaurant. Hoshi and Masuda were in the lead, while our heroine was right behind them. They were trying to find a place were they could shelter themselves from the storm that started 10 minutes ago. The branches were slippery, so they tried being careful. But unfortunety for the young medic-nin, she didn't step right on the branch. She felt. She hit her back hard on the wet ground. She slowly got up from the ground and cursed. She looked up. There was no sign of Hoshi or Masuda. She called out their names, but Masuda and Hoshi didn't heard her.

She started taking some steps towards where the two anbu went. She tried to run, but with her back hurt...she was lucky that she was still able to walk. But we all now this kunoichi, right? She's very stubborn. So do you think that she gave up? Nope. She started running faster and faster as she tried to ignore the pain. And it worked. In several minutes, she was behind them again. But the only problem was that she was down, on the ground and they were up in the trees, 20 meters above the ground.

"Masuda-san! Hoshi-san!" she yelled. The two said ninjas stopped and looked down at the pinkette. They jumped off the brach they were standing on and landed right in front of the young medic.

"What's wrong Sakura-san?" Hoshi asked.

"Isn't a much better idea if we search for a cave down here?"

Masuda went next to Sakura and turned his head towards his comrade. "Sakura-san is right. It would be better to search from here."

"Ok." Hoshi said as he started looking around. He smirked. "And lucky us, we've already found one." He pointed behind the two ninjas that were standing before him. The two turned around and saw a small dark cave like two meters away from them.

XxXxX Secret Masquerade XxXxX

"So..." Sakura started as she put her backpack down. "When are we going to arrive in the Snow Country?" She finished as she sat on the ground, against the cave's wall.

"Well..." Hoshi sighed "If we get going in one hour, then maybe we will arrive at midnight." He then turned his head towards his partner. "But it seems that we are going to spend the night here." Masuda nodded. Sakura let her head down and smiled.

"Yes. You're right. It will get dark in less than half an hour." The kunoichi looked outside the cave. The storm got more violent. The lightnings touched the ground. The wind started blowing faster and faster. Her smile dissapared. This storm brought back memories of her and...Sasuke.

_"Thunderstorms." the pink haired kunoichi said, looking at the grey clouds in the distance. She was sitting next to a raven haired boy, on a bench. The boy turned his head towards her and gave her a questioning look. The girl giggled as she put her hand over his. "You've asked me earlier what I like. I like thunderstorms."_

_"Hn." he smirked as he turned his head back to look at the grey clouds. They were getting closer to the place they were with every minute that passed._

_"Why?" the young Uchiha asked. "Why do you like them?"_

_After Sakura heard the question, she blushed. She was a little embarrassed of the answer she was about to tell him. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. "The lightnings remind me of you." _

_Sasuke looked at her, surprised. He didn't saw that comming. He was the reason why she likes thunderstorms. "Yes, they are dangerous, but they are also beautiful and very spectacular to look at." she finished, blushing even more. Sasuke's eyes soften. His lips formed a tiny but beautiful smile. He turned his head towards the kunoichi. His face was getting closer and closer to hers, until their lips met._

'How did Sasuke-kun turned from such a sweet and lovable person into such a cold one?' was the only thing Sakura said to herself before she felt asleep.

XxXxX Secret Masquerade XxXxX

**A/N: **

**End of chapter :D**

**I just want to tell you something.**** I'm sorry if you find some spelling mistakes, but my windows was reinstalled and it seemes that the only program I have is wordpad T.T...so if you find some mistakes, please let me now so that I can correct them :P**

**And another thing. Should I introduce Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo in this fanfic or not? Please review and let me know, because if I introduce them, I will in the next chapter...so until I recieve some answeres, I won't write the next chapter. Sorry guys D:**

**So if you want chapter 5, please review :P **

**Love you all**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello there! I'm back with chaperter 5 :D **

**From now on, I will try to update weekly, or even more often ^^**

**Gah! I would update 2 chapters a day if I didn't have to read like 37 books and poetry and write something about every single one of them T.T (vacation homework)**

**But hey! I will write everyday, even if just half a page ^^**

**Ok...I'm boring you right now :P**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 5~**

_Sakura was sitting on a bed, in a dark room, dressed in a white dress. She was unconscious. A man entered the room. It was so dark, that you couldn't see his face. The only thing you could see was an Akatsuki uniform and some crimson eyes. He was getting closer and closer to the bed the young medic was on. The man performed a hand sign and soon, a blade appeared in his right hand. He was going to kill her._

_"This is for the fact that you distracted Sasuke." he whispered. He took the blade to Sakura's neck and pressed it softly against her flesh. At the touch of the cold metal, Sakura opened her eyes and tried to move. Bad idea. Because of her movements, the blade cut deeper in her flesh, causing Sakura a lot of pain. She cursed and looked up at the one who had the blade in his hand. The pinkette didn't saw the man's face, because he had a mask on. An orange one._

_"I-I've seen you before." She was right. She saw him before. She saw him when she went after Sasuke. _

_"Oh, so you remember me? Good then." He said as he pressed the blade even more, causing Sakura to cry out in pain. The sheets were all covered in blood from her wound. Her only hope to stay alive was_

_"Sasuke-kun!" she screamed as she saw the raven haired teenager, just behind Madara. _

_"Let her go." He demanded on a cold tone. The Akatsuki member closed his eyes and laughed, amused by Sasuke's behavior. The young Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "I'm warning you." He had his Sharingan activated, just like Madara. Seeing that Madara didin't obeyed him, he made some hand signs. Chidori appeared in his hand._

_"You know pretty damn well that this jutsu doesn't have any effect on me." Madara smirked under the mask as he disappeared._

_Sasuke looked around and saw that he was really gone. He then turned around to Sakura and looked at her wound. It was pretty deep and she lost a lot of blood. He sat on his knees and took Sakura in his arms, bridal style. "Let's get out of here." _

_"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura whispered, tears in her eyes. Sasuke looked into her jade pools and narrowed his eyes. He cursed._

_"This is all my fault! If you hadn't came after me, you would have been in Konoha, safe."_

_But before Sasuke could even get up, Madara appeared behind him and stabbed him in his back._

_"Sasuke-kun!" the pinkette cried. Sasuke dropped her as he felt unconscious. _

_"I didn't wanted to do this to you Sasuke, but...you didn't left me other option." He sighed. Sakura looked at the body that lied before her, horrified. It was all covered in blood. "Now..." Madara started as he went closer to the kunoichi "It's your turn." _

"No!" Sakura screamed as she got up from the ground. It was already morning. She looked around. She wasn't in that dark room anymore. She was in the cave. All alone. She went out and saw Hoshi and Masuda at the river. The cherry blossom took some steps towards them. "Good morning."

The two ninjas turned around and saw Sakura. Both of them smiled.

"Good morning Sakura-san! Did you sleep well?"

"Actually, no." she replied as she passed them and sat on her knees to wash her hands and face with the cold water. "I had a pretty bad nightmare." She turned her head towards them. "And you?"

"I can say that it was quite a pacefull night. I sleeped well." Masuda answered. Hoshi nodded. "Same here."

Sakura's pink lips formed a beautiful smile as she turned her head back to the river. Suddenly she felt that someone has touched her shoulder. She knew it was Masuda. The kunoichi saw his reflection in the river, so she didn't turned her head towards him. "We're leaving in 2 minutes."

The kunoichi nodded then asked "Could you please bring me my backpack?"

"Sure." Masuda replied as he took his hand off Sakura's shoulder and headed towards the cave along with Hoshi. Sakura sighed. Before she got up, she looked at her reflection in the water. Suddenly, the image of a hurt Sasuke came in her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head, hoping that the image will disappear. But no use. She then remembered all that happened in her nightmare. A long sigh escaped her lips.

"Who am I fooling? I can't kill him..." she said to herself.

XxXxX Secret Masquerade XxXxX

**(A/N:Time Skip! 6 hours later)**

They have finally arrived in the Snow Country. The weather was kind of warm, even though the mountain picks were covered in snow. It was noon. Sakura looked at the surroundings with wide eyes. 'So beautiful' she thought. It was the first time she visited the Snow Country. She had imagined that this village would be covered in snow and it would be cold. For the first time in her life, she was happy she was wrong.

Hoshi was in the lead, while Masuda and Sakura were behind him. Masuda just couldn't keep his eyes off her. He liked the way she smiled, the way she was looking at him, even though she wasn't looking at him in any particular way. He felt for her. From the moment he saw her entering the Hokage's door he knew that it was fate that made them meet.

Even though Masuda was staring at her, our heroine didn't noticed. She didn't even care. All she cared of was that she was in the Snow Country and that she will meet Sasuke very soon. She didn't even notice that Masuda was always around her and the fact that he was the one who always talked to her.

They arrived to the place where Sakura would spend that week. It was a pretty smal hotel, not far from the park. It has a beautiful rose garden and cherry trees around it. And now comes the good part. The cherry blossoms have already bloomed. Sakura couldn't stop smiling. It was so beautiful, and the sweet scent of cherry blossoms made it perfect.

"Would you like me to show you your suite?" Masuda asked as he took Sakura's backpack. Sakura turned around to face him and smiled. He knew it was a 'yes', so he grabbed the kunoichi's hand and took her to her room. Hoshi looked at the two and shook her head. He sighed and went after them.

Sakura opened the door to her suite. Her eyes have widened at the sight of a huge room before her. She walked inside. The living room had baby blue walls with big snowflakes painted on them, orange furniture, a mini bar, a Tv, and if that wasn't enough, it had a huge balcony. The young medic then went to see the bedroom. It had a huge bed, and when I say huge, I say enormous. The walls were white, and this time, it had some pale pink cherry blossoms painted on them. Masuda just looked at her face. She was so surprised about everything...

"Do you want me to put your backpack on the bed?" the anbu asked. The kunoichi was still too shocked to reply, so she just nodded. Masuda then laughed. Hoshi looked at his comrade annoyed. He grabbed Masuda's arms and took him towards the door. "We'll leave you to rest, Sakura-san."

Sakura turned around and looked at the two. "Ok." she replied. "Then, I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"Yes. Tomorrow we will let you know what you have to prepare for the ball. Until then, you are free to go and visit the village. But be careful. Try not to blow your cover in case Uchiha is around."

"Don't worry Hoshi-san. I won't." she waved goodbye as the two anbu left her suite. She went in the living room and then outside, on the balcony. She has a perfect view of the park. She smiled at the beauty of the village, but her smile soon disappeared as she remembered of Sasuke. Hoshi was right. He could be anywhere, disguised. Sakura sighed as she came back inside and went in her bedroom to unpack. The first thing she picked from her backpack was the photo of old Team 7. She smiled and put it on the nightstand, right next to the bed.

'I think I will go out for a little walk before I finish unpacking.'

XxXxX Secret Masquerade XxXxX

On the busy street of the village, a 17 years old teenager was walking slowly, ignoring the loud crowd. The boy wore some black pants and a dark blue hooded training shirt. The hood was on his head, so you couldn't see the color of his hair, or even his hair style. He had beautiful coal eyes and a very white skin. He was now walking through the park with his hands shoved into his pockets. He was enjoying the view of bloomed cherry blossoms and their sweet scent.

The teenager stopped and sat down on a bench, really close to the hotel that was at the end of the park. He sighed as he turned his head towards the hotel. A blonde teenager just came out from the hotel. He narrowed his eyes. Somehow, he knew that person, but he didn't know from where. She looked so familiar. As the girl came closer to him, he looked at her face. Her beautiful face. And then, as she came even closer, he saw a pair of familiar emerald orbs. He widened his eyes in shock as he realised who it was.

"Sakura..." he whispered.

XxXxX Secret Masquerade XxXxX

**A/N:**

**That's it for now! I'm really sorry I've rushed the last part, but I really didn't know how to write it.**

**I really hope you liked it ^^**

**I will stop writing for the weekend and I will start reading T.T**

**But I will update soon. Monday or Tuesday**

**Please review and tell me your opinion!**

**Luv ya!**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Sorry for not keeping my promise, but I had something else to do :D but I don't want to lose my readers, so here's chapter 6 XD**

**I won't update chapter 7 too soon because I really don't have time to write it...And when the vacation started I was like: OMG! I'm going to update every day and I will be able to make another 3 or 4 fanfics!**

**Of course, I was wrong T-T**

**E.N.J.O.Y. **

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 6~**

_He sighed as he turned his head towards the hotel. A blonde teenager just came out from the hotel. He narrowed his eyes. Somehow, he knew that person, but he didn't know from where. She looked so familiar. As the girl came closer to him, he looked at her face. Her beautiful face. And then, as she came even closer, he saw a pair of familiar emerald orbs. He widened his eyes in shock as he realised who it was._

_"Sakura..." he whispered._

**End of recap**

As Sakura passed him, the teenager got up from the bench and started following her. He examined her from head to toe. Very long blonde hair, a tiny waist, long legs. He smirked. She really changed since the last time he saw her, two years before. But why did she changed her hair color? She didn't like it pink anymore? The man narrowed his eyes.

'Why is she here?' he thought as he shoved his hands into his pockets. 'Not that I care. But my replacement (A/N: he's talking about Sai) was here last week to spy on me.' He noticed that the kunoichi started running. He cursed. 'She sensed my presence.' He started running after her, but slowed down as he saw that she was with two guys. He looked at their uniform.

"Anbu." he muttered. The teenager turned around and started walking away from the three, so that the anbu won't recognise him. He just couldn't believe. Sakura and the anbu? Now all makes sense. She was there for the same reason as her teammate: to spy him and eventually kill him. He sighed as he closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Sakura was with Hoshi and Masuda. They both smirked.

"You've finished unpacking already or you just can't stay away from me?" Masuda asked as he looked at her, seductive. Sakura started laughing and hit him in his right arm.

"Gosh, Masuda-san, you're so funny!" 

Hoshi looked at Masuda amused. 'He really thought that he will seduce her with that sentence?' he thought as he turned his head towards the young medic. She was still laughing. 'How stupid could you be to say something like that?'

The kunoichi looked at Masuda and smiled. "I just came out for a little walk." She took a big breath of air. The sweet scent of cherry blossoms in the air... She enjoyed every single moment. It was so beautiful...It was the perfect place for a little walk with the loved one. But soon, her smile disappeared. She knew that she will never be able to walk in such a beautiful place with Sasuke nor with any other man, because her heart will forever belong to Sasuke. He was her first and only love. She will never be able to get over him...

Masuda looked at Sakura. He knew by the look on her face that she was thinking of Uchiha. Damn that Uchiha! Because of him, Sakura will never look at Masuda. But hey, in a week, Uchiha will be dead and then he will have the perfect opportunity to make Sakura his. He had everything planed in his mind. After Sakura kills Uchiha, she will be heart broken. Then Masuda will go and hug her and tell her to get over him because he was a criminal. The kunoichi then will smile and thank Masuda for helping her get over that damn traitor with a kiss. But will his plan work?

"So..." Hoshi started "See you tomorrow Sakura-san?"

Sakura looked at him and smiled. "Sure." She replied. Hoshi turned around and was about to leave, but then he noticed something. He turned his head and looked at his teammate. Yep. He was daydreaming. Hoshi shook his head and grabbed Masuda's arm.

"Let's go Masuda." he said turning his head away from his friend. Masuda then woke up and followed Hoshi, but not before he embraced Sakura tightly. The medic looked at him confused. "Be careful." he narrowed his eyes "I can sense Uchiha's chakra. He is here somewhere." He looked in his left and right, then he left.

Sakura was left shocked. Sasuke was there? She looked around and spotted nobody. She was alone in the park. It was kind of strange because it was only 4 Pm. Was there something that she must have known?

Suddenly she heard something in the cherry tree, right above her. She looked up and spotted a raven sitting on a branch. She let her head down and sighed in relief. She thought that someone was watching her. The kunoichi turned around and headed towards the hotel.

She didn't knew how right she was. Someone was indeed watching her.

After she left, the raven streched his wings and took off. Little did Sakura knew that the raven was exactly the person she was going to kill at the masquerade ball.

**XxX Secret Masquerade XxX**

It was already midnight. A raven haired shinobi was on a field, training. That was the only thing he could do to stop thinking about her. But unfortunately for him, his ex-teammate was still hunting his mind. Sasuke grabbed some shurikens from his holster, aimed the dummie and BINGO. Right in the dummie's head. He then took his katana in his right hand and started running towards the dummie. Images of Sakura came in his mind, and he was not able to concentrate. He dropped his sharp sword on the ground before he stopped and sat down on his knees. The raven haired looked up at the starry sky and spotted the moon.

Why was she making him feel like this? So weak? So insecure?

Of course, they were once a couple and he had feelings for her. But that was long ago, right? Over these 5 years he had forgotten all she teached him. He forgot how it was to love somebody, to be warm with the persons that were next to him. He forgot it all. But he wasn't going to remember how it all felt, right? Just by seeing her?

But this time it was different. It wasn't like the first time he met her after he betrayed Konoha. No. He felt that way only because he knew why the cherry blossom was here. She was there to kill him.

Sasuke let his head down, his raven locks completely covering his face. He smirked.

'Since Sakura wants to play cat and mouse, I will pretend that I don't know that she is here.' His smirk grew fonder as he got up from the cold ground, grabbed his katana and headed towards his hideout. 'But that doesn't mean that I can't play the same game. She spies me, I spy her.'

As he was walking towards the house that was 100 meters away from him, he saw his red headed teammate running towards him, followed by his two male teammates. He immediately rolled his eyes as the kunoichi jumped on him.

"What are you doing here so late, Sasuke?" his silver haired comrade asked the raven haired as he got closer. After Sasuke escaped from Karin's embrace, he answered Suigetsu's question.

"Training."

"At this hour?"

"What?" the young Uchiha asked irritated "Is there any problem that I train this late?"

Karin just couldn't keep quiet. "Yeah Suigetsu! Is there any problem that Sasuke is trainig this late?" Suigetsu looked at her annoyed, then looked at Sasuke. He was acting kind of strange since he came back from his little walk in the village. He needed answers, but seeing Sasuke like that, he felt that it was best to not angry him.

"Whatever..." the man muttered as he turned around and started walking away from his teammates. After he saw his teammate leaving, Jugo decided to join him, leaving Karin and Sasuke alone.

Karin stepped closer to the teenager and smirked as she took her glasses off.

"Maybe I can help you with your trainig Sasuke."

Uchiha turned his head towards the girl and shook his head annoyed. "I finished trainig." he replied, not moving from where he was standing.

"Then let's go inside." The girls said, smiling. "It getting kind of cold outside." She took some steps towards the house, but stopped as she noticed that sasuke wasn't following her. He turned her head and looked at him confused. "What's wrong? Aren't you coming?"

The onyx eyed teenager turned around and sat down in a meditating position. "No." he coldly replied.

"The I will stay with you!" the girl said happily heading towards him. Sasuke turned his head in her direction and gave her a glare.

"I need to be alone."

**XxX Secret Masquerade XxX**

**A/N:**

**So that's it for now. Short and boring, but still updated :D**

**I wanted to introduce here a part when Sakura was in her room, thinking of Sasuke, but it seems that i will introduce it in the next chapter. I really wanted to update something, because I didn't for like almost a month, or was it more than a month? I don't really remember. And my brother just came inside the house and wanted to stay at the computer, so I had to end it here D:**

**I hope you like it!**

**Reviewwww!**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hah! Chapter 7! Wow, I really can't believe that I haven't finished the story yet! Usually, the most important part was in chapter 4 or 5, and I would have finished it in chapter 7 or 8, but this time is different! It will be another 2 or 3 chapters before I get to the most important part :D Gosh I'm so happy XD**

**Anyway, i hope you liked the last chapter because from now on things are getting more and more interesting ^o^**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 7~**

Our heroine was sitting on a sofa in her living room with a cup of hot chocolate in her left hand and the remote control in her other. She was pressing on every button the remote control had, not knowing what to watch. It was past midnight, so there was nothing interesting to watch. Only horror movies or news or soap operas. She sighed and decided to turn off the TV and go to bed, although she wasn't sleepy.

The kunoichi slowly got up from the sofa, and went in the bedroom. She turned on the light and got changed in her pyjamas. After she finished, she went in the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Sakura then looked at her reflection in the mirror. She narrowed her eyes. Something was different. She took a lock of her hair and looked closely at it. It wasn't the same color like yesterday morning. It was a really bright pink, but she still had some blonde locks. She pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Shit!" the young medic cursed, still looking at her replection as she remembered that she stood in rain the day before. "It seems that the color washes out!" the girl cried.

She wanted to punch something. But she didn't. She calmly stepped out of the bathroom after she turned off the light and and went in bed. She put her arms behind her head and started looking at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. She was too mad about her hair color and was also sad.

_"I can sense Uchiha's chakra. He is here somewhere." _

The kunoichi just couldn't believe that she was so close to Sasuke. And how come she didn't sensed his chakra? Maybe she was too distracted to even notice? She didn't knew the answer. And what was with the nightmare she had last night? She understood why she dreamt about Sasuke, but what was with that Akatsuki member? And why was he trying to kill her? But why was Sasuke protecting her? Was this a sign or just a bad dream?

Sakura thought about it, but not for long because after 10 minutes, she felt asleep.

**XxX Secret Masquerade XxX**

Sasuke was still sitting in the field. This time he was laid on his back, his arms behind his head. He was looking at the moon, but the only thing he could see was Sakura's face when she was younger. Her beautiful jade pools, her soft skin, her lips...He smirked before he closed his orbs and shook his head. God, he wanted to taste those lips again.

He opened his eyes and sighed. He knew that that was impossible. He guessed that if she was there to kill him, that means that she got over. But he didn't knew how wrong he was.

"I must see her again." the raven haired shinobi said as he got up from the grass and cleaned his pants. He then preformed some hand signs and disappeared.

**XxX Secret Masquerade XxX**

Sasuke was now outside the hotel where his ex-teammate was staying. He closed his eyes and took a big breath of air before he activated his Sharingan. He examined the hotel with his crimson eyes. After a minute he saw a female silhouette sitting on a bed, eventually sleeping. He smirked. He knew it was the cherry blossom. He could recognise her chakra anywhere. It seemed that she was on the first floor. The ninja then spotted a balcony that was exactly on the part where Sakura's suite was.

Sasuke stepped closer to the hotel until he was near the balcony. The teenager then jumped on the balcony like a cat, without making any noise that could awake his ex-teammate or any other person which was living in the hotel. He slowly put his hand on the door knob and pushed the door open.

The raiven haired shinobi stepped in the living room. He started looking around and spotted the bedroom's door. It was wide open. Sasuke took a couple of steps towards the bedroom. He wanted to be sure that Sakura was indeed asleep. He took another step and looked inside the room. The view he saw surpised him. The sleeping cherry blossom. She looked so innocent, just like an angel. It was a view that could easily melt someone's heart, but not his...although he felt something warm inside him.

His coal eyes soften as he took a seat on the corner of the bed, making sure that he won't wake her up. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. Gosh he wanted so much to stay there with her.

But Sasuke just couldn't admit it. He just couldn't admit that he still had feelings for her.

He looked on the nightstand that was right next to the bed and spotted something. A frame with a familiar photo in it. He got up from the bed and took the frame in his hands. The old photo of team 7. He wanted to smile, but couldn't. For a moment he wanted to go back to Konoha, but he knew his place wasn't there. He examined the photo.

'I wonder if the dobe is here too.' Sasuke said to himself. He knew that Naruto wouldn't refuse a mission which involved him. But where was he? In another suite?

Suddenly, he heard someone whispering his name. He immediately turned his head towards the blonde teenager that was lying on the bed. She was still asleep. Sasuke then noticed that the kunoichi was trembling. Was she cold or was she

'Having a nightmare.' he thought as he closed his eyes. 'With me.'

But what was so scarry to make her tremble like that? He wanted to go into her nightmare to see with his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun..." the kunoichi whispered again. "Get out of here..." A tear rolled down her cheek. Sasuke looked at her. He knew that the young medic-nin would wake up any moment.

He put the frame back on the nightstand. The noise that the nightstand made was enough to wake Sakura up. The girls started to open her eyes.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed under his breath. The teenager made some hand signs.

Sakura turned her head to see where the noise came from. She widened her eyes in shock as she realised that a raven was inside her bedroom, sitting on the floor. The girl then looked at the window.

"Closed?" she said as she raised her eyebrows. "But then..." the kunoichi turned her head to look at the raiven again "how did you get in?"

The cherry blossom had a bad feeling about this. The raiven was looking at her. Sakura got up from the bed and went in the living room to find that the balcony door was open. She didn't remembered leaving it open.

"I guess I forgot to close it..." she sighed as she went back in the bedroom and saw that the raiven was gone. She narrowed her eyes. "Where did it go?" Sakura then heard something in the living room. She immediately turned around and went out of the bedroom. She looked around and spotted nobody. The girl sigh as she throwed herself on the sofa. She closed her eyes. 'What a day...' she thought as she opened her eyes and spotted something red on the table. A red rose...

**XxX Secret Masquerade XxX**

**A/N:**

**Ok, short chapter and a little boring. I dunno how to describe the little action that took place in this chapter, so sorry D:**

**And just so you know, the rose was from no other than Sasuke-kun ^.^ Oh how romantic.**

**Please Reviewwww XD**

**Huggies and lots of kisses**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello my dear readers. I'm really happy because I had the inspiration to write this chapter, I mean I lost it for some days, but then it came back :D**

**I'd like to thank you for your reviews so far, I hope I'll get more and more of them, but that means that I should update weekly, and I can't do that. Anyway, school is going to start in less than a month, so I really need to finish this one as soon as possible :P**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 8~**

It was 5 am. When most of the people and ninja from the Snow Country were sleeping, our kunoichi was in the bathroom, taking a shower. After what happened last night with that raven, she couldn't sleep anymore. She was still trying to figure out how the raven got in, even though she already had the answer in her mind. The raven might have entered throught the balcony door, but this only left to another question. Why was the balcony door open? Of course, after she got up and saw that it was open, she thought that maybe she left it that way, but now she remembered that she closed it last night because it was getting cold inside. And since when ravens come inside the house? Most of them are afraid of humans, but not this one. It was something strange about him.

Sakura sighed as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her petite body. She took the brush and started brushing her hair. Her hair had no longer the same color as last night. It was now the same bright pink we all know so well. It was obvious that the color washed out completely since she took the shower.

After she finished brushing it, she went in the bedroom and put some clothes on. She then remembered that before she woke up, she had the same nightmare that she had the previous night: her dressed in a white dress, sitting on a bed in a dark room, the Akatsuki member who tried to kill her and the hurt Sasuke. Why did she had the same nightmare? And why with _him _? She never had nightmares with _him_ before. Actually, she had some, but that was years ago, right after they met Orochimaru. But still, none of them were as bloody as this one.

After she got dressed, she went in the living room and sat down on the sofa. She was looking at the red rose which was now in a colorfull vase. It looked a little withered. Sakura gently picked the rose and hold it in her hand. She tried hard to remember if the rose was here when she arrived.

'Maybe I didn't notice it.' she thought as she took her other hand and place it on the rose. She closed her eyes. The hand that was on the delicate flower was now glowing green. The pinkette wanted to see if her healing jutsu can bring the rose back to life. And surprisingly, it worked. She smiled as she put the rose back in her vase.

**XxX Secret Masquerade XxX**

Outside, in the park, there were two ninjas that were walking around. A silver haired man with big purple eyes and shark teeth and a red haired woman with red eyes. The red haired was glaring at the man walking beside her, while he continued walking, not looking at his teammate. The kunoichi stopped, grabbed the man's arm and pulled him closer. The shinobi looked at her confused.

"Why did you have to come with me, Suigetsu?" the girl asked as she rested her hands on her hips.

"Because" the shinobi started "Sasuke is missing, and if we find him..." Suigetsu kept quiet for a moment. "The point is that I can't let you be alone with him."

The kunoichi looked at him suspicious. "And why wouldn't you like me to be alone with him?" The silver haired shinobi slowly shook his head.

"Because you're annoying him, that's why." he lied.

"Hey!" Karin shouted as she pointed her index finger towards him. "How do you know that I'm annoying Sasuke? Because if you ask me, you're the one annoying here!"

Suigetsu crossed his arms then answered her question, but not before he turned his head. "You're annoying everyone." he simply said with a bored voice. He was so sick of this conversation. I mean, they had this conversation like one hundered times before, but it seems that Karin really doesn't understand. He then turned his head back towards her and saw that she had a smirk on her lips. He knew what was coming. The question that was the most annoying to him.

"If I'm so annoying to Sasuke, then why he chose me to join his team and not another kunoichi? Huh?"

Oh, Suigetsu's head started to hurt. He knew what she thought. She thought that Sasuke chose her because he had feelings for her, and not because of her ability to sense chakra. But keep dreaming Karin, keep dreaming. Suigetsu knew that Sasuke never had feelings for anyone. At least, that was what he thought. He didn't knew anything about Sasuke's past because Sasuke wouldn't say anything to him or to any other. It was his personal life, Suigetsu understood that, but still, he is his friend. He must at least know something about him, some important event, person, anything. But no matter how much he insisted, Sasuke woudn't tell him anything.

"And don't tell me he chose me because of my-" Karin stopped talking. She widened her eyes as she took several steps back and started scanning the area. Suigetsu looked at her amused.

"What's with that scared face of yours?" Suigetsu smirked as he took some stepps towards her.

"Konoha." she said, her voice low and serious. Her teammate looked at her shocked.

"But didn't that ninja from Konoha went back last week?" he asked her. She nodded in response.

"But this is not the same ninja." she said still scanning the area. "I know I've sensed her chakra before."

"Her? You mean this time is a she?"

"Yes." Karin replied, trying to locate the ninja. But she failed. It seemed that the kunoichi she was searching for stopped using her chakra. "Shit!" Karin cursed under her breath. "I've lost her!"

Suigetsu shook his head as he turned around and started walking away from the kunoichi. "You know..." he turned his head to see her. "I really don't understand why he chose _you_. You're useless."

What Suigetsu just said broke her heart. She felt terrible. She knew that Suigetsu was right. Lately, on their missions, she was always the one being rescued by Sasuke or Jugo, or even Suigetsu. Karin wasn't really strong. Her only abillity that she had was to sense chakra. Yes, she'd been the guardian to one of Orochimaru's prisons, and no one escaped while she was around. But things changed since then. The prisoners weren't as strong as the enemies they were fighting now.

Karin looked at the ground, while her eyes were full of tears. She didn't wanted to cry because of what some man said about her. But this wasn't just a man. It was Suigetsu and what he said was the truth. And it hurt her.

"Come on." Karin looked up at Suigetsu's back. "Let's go and find Sasuke to let him know about Konoha." Karin nodded.

"But Suigetsu..." she started. Her teammate turned his head towards her. "Don't you think that we should inform Madara first?"

"You're right."

"And Suigetsu." she said as she walked towards him. "I'm sorry for acting like that and for being a burden for you guys all this time."

The purple eyed shinobi looked at her shocked. He didn't see that coming. He smiled as he aproached her. "You're not a burden. You're our teammate and we save each other. That's what teammates do, right?" Karin smiled, an action with made Suigetsu smile even more. She never smiled at him. "And, I'm sorry for what I've said eariler. I didn't wanted to say that, but I got mad."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**A/N:**

**Well this is it! Short boring chapter, but I promise that in the next chapters the action will start, even if not much, because the real action will be at the ball and after it :P**

**Hmmm, I smell another couple in this fanfic :D I know that Karin's personality change was pretty sudden, but I don't want to wait for another I dunno how many chapters to change her. **

**Ah, and just so you know, nothing fluffy happened between them...yet :D**

**I hope you really like it.**

**Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry for updating this late, but I had to finish my vacation homework, and now school started -_-" I hope you're not mad at me for making you wait so much ^_^**

**Anyway, thank you all for your beautiful reviews so far, and I hope that I'll get beautiful reviews like these from now on XD**

**And now, the chapter you all have been waiting for!**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 9~**

"Madara." a feminine voice said. The said man turned around to face a red haired kunoichi and a silver haired shinobi that were standing before him. He narrowed his eyes. He was expecting to see Sasuke along with the two. Karin took a step forward. "We have some bad-" but the kunoichi was brutally interrupted by her leader.

"Where is Sasuke?" he asked, his tone as cold as ice, while he turned around, his back now facing the two. Karin and her teammate both gulped. They didn't like the tone their leader was using.

"We don't know yet." Karin answered. "We didn't had time to search for him." she said as she lowered her head, her red locks covering her face completely. She knew the fact that Madara would probably shout at her.

The man with orange mask closed his eyes. "You didn't had time." he said amused. He took some steps to a chair and sat down on it. He turned his head towards them. "That was your mission!" he yelled, making the two jump a little. After he calmed down, he asked "Then tell me" he looked at Karin and saw her scared expression "what the hell did you do all this time? What was more important than searching for him? Why did you came back if you didn't even searched for him?"

"Konoha's here." Suigetsu said as he took a step forward and looked straight into his eyes. He wouldn't let his female teammate do all the talking, would he?

Madara looked at both of them surprised. Now he understood why they have departed from their mission. This was a serious problem. At that time, Madara was glad that they came back to tell him the news.

"Karin sensed a kunoichi from Konoha in the park, near the hotel." Suigetsu continued, this time, his eyes weren't set on Madara, but on the woman that stood beside him. The Uchiha nodded slowly, understanding the situation.

"Is she the only one?" he asked, looking away. Karin nodded.

"Yes."

"Where you able to identify who she is, or how does she looks like?" Madara asked, a little impatient.

"No." Karin replied. "But we will find out today."

"Good." He got up from the chair and headed towards the window. "But try to find Sasuke and warn him about her."

"Hai!" Both of them said as they got out of their hideout. They've decided that Karin should go and scan the hotel and the park to find the kunoichi, and Suigetsu should go and look for Sasuke.

**XxX Secret masquerade XxX**

Sakura was watching tv when someone knocked at her door. She took the remote control in her hand and pressed the red button which turned the tv off. The pinkette then got up from the sofa and went to open the door, thinking that the one who knocked was Masuda or maybe Hoshi. She put her hand on the door knob and opened the door. There was a man standing in front of her suite, and she could tell that the man was an employee of the hotel only from the simple fact that he had the hotel's symbol on his tie.

"Miss Sakura Haruno?" the man asked, looking at the kunoichi, then at the letter in his hand.

"Yes." the pinkette answered. The man gave her the letter and then walked away, without saying anything else. Sakura looked at him confused and then at the letter. 'For me?' she thought as she closed the door behind her. She opened it and started reading it loud. "Meet me at the tea house across the street. We need to talk about your mission." Sakura took her eyes off the letter. She concluded that the letter was sent by one of the anbu, so she put the letter on the living room table and got out of her suite, but not before she put a sweater on.

As she went down the stairs, she remembered that her hair was back to its normal color, so she decided that after she walks out of the hotel, she will start running as fast as she can and cover her hair with her hands, just to be sure that nobody- that 'nobody' being Sasuke and his gang - will notice her bright pink hair. As she stepped out of the hotel, she noticed that the tea house really was close, about 50 meters away.

She started running, and soon she arrived in front of the tea house's door. She grabbed the door knob and pulled it, but the door didn't want to open. Irritated, Sakura tried again, this time harder, just to see that the result was exactly the same. Now she was mad! The god damn door was stuck! She raised her hand and punched the door hard, hoping that the door will open...and it did, kind of. It was broken into pieces. The kunoichi looked around, hoping she didn't draw any attention. She gulped as she saw that everyone was staring at her with scared expressions.

"Oh shit!" she cursed under her breath as she stepped into the tea house, only to find Masuda looking at her, his expression the same as everyone's else. She took a seat near the anbu and greeted him.

"Nice entrance." Masuda said as he pointed towards the pieces of wood on the floor, then continued sarcastically "It didn't draw any attention at all." The kunoichi looked at him and gave him a glare.

"This isn't funny! The door was stuck!" she said, trying hard not to blush in embarrassment. Masuda looked at her and smirked. He then noticed that Sakura was looking around, probably looking for his teammate.

"Hoshi's not here." he said, trying to get the cherry blossom's attention. Sakura turned her head towards him and gave him a questioning look. Masuda took the menu in his hand, and started looking through it. "He's on a mission." he said, still looking at the menu. "So from now on, it's just you and me." A smirk appered on his lips after saying that.

"Oh!" the kunoichi said in surprise. Masuda put the menu on the table, then looked at the pinkette.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" he asked. Sakura nodded and smiled. "Cherry tea?"

"Sure." she said as her smile grew fonder.

**XxX Secret masquerade XxX**

Karin was sitting on a bench which was right in front of the hotel. She thought that the kunoichi must be here somewhere. She was paying attention to every person that got out of the hotel. No posibly ninja under cover so far. The kunoichi sighed. It will take forever to identify which one is the ninja, when obviously, she wouldn't use her chakra for walking or opening the door.

The red haired closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again when she heard the hotel door opening. She saw a woman that started running right after she closed the door behind her, and the weird thing about her was that she was holding her head with her hands. This thing amused Karin, but also made her suspicious. Could she be the ninja Leaf sent? was the question that Karin put to herself.

She turned her head to see where the woman was heading in such a hurry and found out that she was heading towards the tea house which was not so far from the bench she was sitting on. Karin saw her trying to open the door of the tea house and was about to start laughing. But then she saw the woman punching the door, the poor door breaking into pieces. Now this really made her suspicious. As the woman started looking around, Karin looked closely at her face. It was so familiar. Then she looked at her hair. Pink. Bright pink. She was absolutely sure that she saw this woman somewhere before. And in less than a second, the kunoichi remembered that she saw her when Konoha was after Sasuke, and she was sure that back then, this woman had a headband with the symbol of Leaf on it.

**XxX Secret masquerade XxX**

**A/N: **

**Ok people, so I've finished this chapter in one day. Yay for me! Even though, I don't like how it came out.**

**And sorry if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes, but I didn't read the whole chapter again, because I'm just sooo tired -_-"**

**I've made this chapter just a little longer than the previous one, and from now on, I will try to make them even longer.**

**Don't expect chapter 10 too soon, because I have to study a lot for school and I also have other things to do. I barely have time for myself D:**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that you will review and tell me your opinion, because if I get more reviews, who knows...I would probably write the next chapter sooner :P**

**Hugs and kisses**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey there! Sorry for the late update, but I'm so busy with school that I can't write. But here it is, chapter 10. And the reason why I write this right now it's because I'm really, really sick T^T, so I stayed home xD**

**So if you find some mistakes in the chapter, it's because I'm not feeling quite good and I can't concentrate well.**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 10~**

Karin stepped closer to the tea house, wanting to see the girl's face even closer, so she could be really sure that she is the ninja the red haired met one year ago. The kunoichi did some hand signs for a jutsu that could cover her chakra, so that Sakura wouldn't notice her. She entered the tea house and took a seat at a table, close to where Sakura's and Masuda's table was, so she could hear their conversation.

"Why are so so distracted Sakura-san?" she could hear the anbu say. A loud sigh reached her ears. "It's about Uchiha, right?"

Karin's eyes widened. Now she was positively sure that this Sakura was the ninja Leaf sent. She turned her head to look at her. The cherry blossom was with a cup of hot tea in her hands, her eyes closed. It was like she didn't even paid attention to what the anbu said. Slowly, the pinkette opened her jade eyes.

"No." she simply replied. "It's not about Sasuke-kun this time..." she said as she turned her head towards where Sasuke's teammate was. Karin immediately turned her head. She sweatdropped. Did the kunoichi knew she was there? Karin looked at her from the corner of her eye, to see if Sakura was still looking at her. She sighed in relief when she found out that the medic wasn't looking at her anymore, but outside the window.

"Then what happened?" she heard the anbu ask. Slowly, she turned her head to look at them again. "Nothing important..." the cherry blossom said, still looking out the window. "It's just weird, you know." She put the cup down on the wooden table.

"What's wierd Sakura-san? Tell me what happened. Aside from your hair back to it's normal color." he said as he took her hand and hold it tight. The pink haired sighed before giving Masuda the answer.

"Last night, when I woke up from a dream, I found a raven in my bedroom."

"A raven in your bedroom?" he asked surprised. He didn't see that coming.

"A raven in my bedroom." Sakura repeated, making sure that Masuda understood. "And now comes the weird part." she said as she released her hand from his grip and took the cup back in her hands. "He was staring at me."

"Staring at you? Sakura-san, are you sure this wasn't a dream?"

"I'm sure I wasn't dreaming! And it was something weird about him." she stopped, taking another sip from her cherry tea. "It had crimson eyes."

Karin widened her eyes in shock. 'Crimson...eyes?' she thought. Soon she narrowed her eyes. She figured out all about that raven. She knew who it was. It was...'Sasuke...' But what would Sasuke do in her bedroom at night, when she was asleep? Did he knew about Konoha all along? Why was he there in the first place? And if he knew about her, why didn't he kill her? All these questions where messed up in Karin's head and she couldn't get an answer for any of them. And now that she knows why Sasuke disappeared last night, she should go talk to her leader about Sasuke's actions. But before that, she needs to get some answers from Sasuke.

The kunoichi got up from the table and was about to walk out of the tea house when a girl dressed up in a yellow kimono came to her and asked her if she wanted something to drink. Karin gave her a glare and said no in a not so cute tone. She then passed the girl and stepped out of the tea house. The girl looked at her confused.'Why was she so mad about?'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

"Crimson eyes?" Masuda asked with raised eyebrows. He closed his eyes and shook his head before he opened his eyes back and started talking again. "Sakura-san...I really believe you had a dream. Or you were too tired so you started seeing things. It could be possible."

"I tell you, it was real. It wasn't a god damn dream!" she said as she hit the table with her fist. "And I was definitely not seeing things." she said as she tried calming herself down. But the fact that Masuda didn't believed her made her angry. The raven was there but then disappeared, the balcony door was opened, even though she closed it before she went to bed, the rose...She thought and decided not to bring this topic again, so she asked Masuda about the mission.

"Well, you know that the masquerade ball will take place in 6 days."

"Yes." she replied.

"It will take place in the castle that is up on the hill. That castle belongs to the man that built the country, 50 years ago. He was the one who came up with the idea of making a masquerade ball in order to celebrate the day when he finished building this small country." he stopped a little bit and started looking around, making sure that no ninja was there to listen to them, because the mission was top secret and only the anbu knew everything about it. After he scanned the tea house, he turned his head back to Sakura. "Your mission is to go there and spy on Uchiha. Try to gain his trust and to spend time together. But you have to try not to blow up your cover, because if you do, then you'll be in a lot of danger and I don't want that." he finished.

Sakura looked down at the table. Her expression was a little sad, because she knew that after she does what Masuda said, she will have to kill him, and this was the last thing our heroine would like to do.

Masuda looked at her and narrowed his eyes. Now, he was sure that the medic was thinking about Uchiha. Why did she had to love him? Why does she still love him, if he broke her heart and caused her a lot of pain? He had enough. He should tell her to forget that stupid bastard and get over him! But he wouldn't tell her on a rude tone, because he knew that that way he will definitely hurt her, and that was the last thing he would want.

"Sakura-san..." he started, looking away. The kunoichi raised her head and looked at him. "You should...you should forget about Uchiha."

Sakura wasn't surprised. She knew that she should forget about him, for the sake of the mission. But she couldn't imagine a world where Sasuke would be gone...forever. But then, she remembered everything about what she planned back in Konoha.

A tiny smile reached her lips. "I will try to forget him, because I know that the mission depends on it."

Masuda looked at her with wide eyes, but then, his eyes softened. "I'm glad to hear that." he said as he got up from the table. "Let's go and pay the tea and the door and then we'll go for a little walk."

"Ok!" she laughed as she got up. "But we have a little problem." she took a lock of her hair in her hand. "It's pink." she said.

"Don't worry about it. I doubt Uchiha and his team are here. I didn't sensed any of them since yesterday. You will only have to worry about it when the masquerade ball starts."

**xXx Secret Maquerade xXx**

Suigetsu was walking through the forest which was near by their hideout. It is the only place where he didn't searched for Sasuke. After walking for several minutes, he noticed that some trees were fallen. And it was kind of weird, because the trees still had green leaves on them. He passed some of them and went straight forward, thinking that the one who did it was Sasuke. Suddenly, he heard someone scream. A male voice. He followed the voice, which took him to an open field at the exit of the forest. There he saw Sasuke, sitting on the grass, breathing heavily, and thousands of destroyed dummies surrounding him.

'It seems that he had been training hard.' the silver haired shinobi thought as he stepped closer to him. "Hey Sasuke!"

Sasuke got up from the ground and turned around to see Suigetsu smirking. "Been training really hard, ne?" he asked, but Sasuke remained silent, like always. "Why are you training here and not on our trainig ground?"

"It's none of your bussines." he coldly replied, hoping that Suigetsu would leave him alone. But unfortunately, it didn't worked.

"Madara sent us to look after you because last night you didn't came back home. He thougth that maybe something happened to you." he said as he put his hand on his bare shoulder.

Annoyed, Sasuke took Suigetsu's hand off his shoulder and went to sit down on the grass. A sigh reached his ears, before he felt that his teammate sat right next to him. "Konoha's here." he head the silver haired say, but didn't reply. He already knew that Konoha was there, so he didn't quite care.

"Are you even listening to me?" Suigetsu asked pissed off. Sasuke just stood there as calm as always. "Konoha's here!" But again, Sasuke didn't reply. Instead, he got up from the ground, shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the forest. Suigetsu looked at him with a questioning look before he got up and followed him.

On the way towards their hideout, Sasuke remembered what happened last night, when he want to see Sakura.

_"Sasuke-kun..." the kunoichi whispered again. _

'She had a nightmare with me in it...' he thought as he closed his obsidian eyes.

_"Get out of here..." A tear rolled down her cheek. _

What happened in her nightmare? Why was she telling Sasuke to get out of there? Sasuke wanted to know so badly. But then he realised something.

_"Sasuke-kun..." _

She said 'Sasuke-kun'. So that means that she still has feelings for him. Sasuke smirked as he opened his eyes. But there was still a question that Sasuke needed an answer for. Why was she here to kill him if she didn't get over?

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

They were close to their hideout when they saw their red haired teammate standing in front of the door. After she spotted them, she took some steps towards them.

"Sasuke! I need to talk to you!" she angrily said as she stepped in front of him. Sasuke rolled his eyes and stopped, even though he didn't want to hear what Karin would was about to say. Karin turned her head to Suigetsu and gave him a glare. "You, get lost." she turned her head back to Sasuke. "I need to talk to Sasuke in private."

Suigetsu looked at Karin's expression. 'Why is she so mad?' he thought as he passed the two and went inside.

Sasuke watched Suigetsu leave, then turned his head to look at his female teammate. "What?" he simply asked.

"Where were you last night?" she asked, a little pissed off. She wanted to see if he was going to tell her the truth or not. But the fact that Sasuke didn't want to answer pissed her off even more. "Tell me!" she demanded.

Sasuke looked at her with a bored expression. "You're annoying me."

"I don't give a damn if I annoy you or not! I just want to know what the hell where you doing in that Sakura's room?"

Sasuke widened his eyes in shock, but chose to say nothing.

"Why didn't you told me the fact that you knew that Konoha sent a ninja here? And why didn't you killed her when you had the chance?"

"It's none of your bussiness." he said as he passed her.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**A/N: **

**Yay! Finally I made a longer chapter!**

**I know it kinda sucks because I've lost my writing skills. That's what happens when you stop writing a period of time. And of course, I've lost my inspiration when I was writing this chapter...again. But next time it will be better, I swear xD**

**What will Karin do to get answers from Sasuke? And what will Madara do when he will hear about Sasuke's actions? And what is Sakura's plan?**

**Find out in the next chapters ^_^**

**Please review and tell me your opinion! I really need to know if you like the chapter or not so I can edit it when I have time, because I don't quite like how it came out.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello my dear readers! Long time no see ^_^**

**Before I start writing this chapter, I just want to apologize for the fact that I haven't updated for some months. But believe me, school really kept me occupied. I thought being in 10****th**** grade will be much easier than in the previous year…but it seems that I was wrong. I had and still have a lot of projects to do for school. I can't wait for the spring vacation to start so I can write more xD**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade **

**~chapter 11~ **

Sasuke's actions made Karin angry, but also very curious. Why was he trying to hide the fact that he knew that kunoichi from Konoha was there? This didn't make any sense to the redhead. Sasuke wasn't like that before, and it bothered Karin very much.

Karin looked at Sasuke as he calmly entered the house. How on Earth could he be so calm when one of his teammates knows about his actions which took place the night before?

The kunoichi walked over to Suigetsu, who was standing not so far from her. He was staring intense at her.

"Where's Madara?" she asked quickly as she ran her small hand through her long red hair, the other one resting on her hip.

"What happened back there?" The silver headed asked, ignoring his teammate's question. He was referring to the fact that seconds earlier she was shouting at Sasuke. Karin looked at him. She narrowed her eyes. She hated the fact that he always does it. He always ignores her. She grabbed his purple shirt and brought his face closer to hers. Maybe he would see the furious flames present in her eyes and he will answer the question the girl put earlier.

"Answer the damn question already!" she shouted angrily, making Suigetsu jump a little. After she let go of his shirt, he said he doesn't know where their leader was because he was too busy trying to find Sasuke.

"Isn't he inside?" the purple eyed man asked the girl standing before him. Karin looked at the ground and shook her head.

"No, that's why I asked…" she closed her eyes and took a big breath of air. "I have found out who the kunoichi is." she said as she raised her head and opened her crimson eyes, and started looking directly into her comrade's eyes. "Her name is Sakura and it seems that she knows Sasuke. And he seems to know her too…"

"Really?" he asked surprised. "That was totally unexpected." he confessed. "I thought Sasuke never had a girl friend."

"Yeah, right?" she laughed a little bit sarcastically. "Do you wanna hear something really interesting? He went in her room last night. He knew about her being here all along." She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. Suigetsu was standing there, stiff as a stone, his eyes as wide as they can get.

"Wow, now that's really interesting." He said as he crossed his arms. "I wonder what he could have done…"

"And that's not all. He was in her room when she was asleep." The redhead said. After that, she turned her head. She crossed her arms and bit her lower lip until blood came out. She was so curious of what Sasuke did last night, but was also a very jealous because it was the first time she heard the fact that her teammate went in the room of a girl. But she wasn't an ordinary girl. Sasuke knew her. 'Maybe they were childhood friends, or maybe…' Karin shook her head at that thought. 'No it couldn't be. I mean Sasuke would have told us that he had a girlfriend. He only told us about that Naruto guy or what was his name. Or maybe they were teammates…'

Suigetsu watched Karin as she was lost in her thoughts, not noticing the way he was looking at her. He smirked at the sight. It was obvious that she was jealous. He liked to see her like that, to see her so mad. But soon his smirk disappeared. He had to face the reality. She was so preoccupied about Sasuke that she hadn't noticed yet.

The silver headed couldn't take this killing silence anymore, so he decided to start a conversation with his comrade who was still thinking of who knows what.

"So what are we gonna do about this?"

Karin turned her head and looked him in the eye. "I will go and tell this to Madara. He must do something about it."

As soon as she said that, she turned around and headed towards the house. Obviously, Suigetsu followed her. She opened the wooden door and entered. She noticed Sasuke sitting on the couch. His eyes were closed. 'He must be meditating.' She thought as she went passed him. She decided that she wouldn't bother persuading Sasuke to tell her what the hell he was doing in Sakura's hotel room. She knew that he wouldn't tell anything because he's too stubborn.

Sasuke noticed her presence and when she wasn't looking he opened his eyes and started staring at her. 'How does she know? Did she followed me last night?' He narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly Karin turned around to face him. He was looking directly at her. It was like he had knives instead of eyes. Karin gulped. It was like he was threatening her not to tell anyone else, just by the look on his face.

It was then that Suigetsu entered the room. He automatically stopped. He could feel the tension between the two. He looked at Sasuke and then at the redhead. She turned her head and walked out of the room. Suigetsu didn't know what to do: follow his teammate or stay here with the ice cube?

He decided to stay so he went and took a seat next to Sasuke. The raven haired jerked his head towards the man sitting beside him and gave him a glare. Suigetsu looked at him surprised, then turned his head and decided to not look at him anymore. After he saw his comrade turn his head away from him, he closed his eyes and stared meditating again.

'What was in your mind Sasuke?...'

xXx Secret Masquerade xXx

Sakura was walking beside Masuda on the busy streets. Since they left the tea house, the only topic they talked about was the mission. Sakura listened carefully to what Masuda was saying to her. She listened carefully to the plan. She would go there, wearing a mask on, of course, and start talking with some people and walk around Sasuke so he will notice her. After that she would go and start a conversation with him about how wonderful the ball is, take a drink, and when Sasuke isn't looking she would pour a drug in his drink that will absorb all his chakra, leaving him with noting. As soon as she notices the drug is working, she would take him in an isolated place in the castle and kill him before he has the chance to kidnap anyone.

"Ok, but what if the plan doesn't work and I will be discovered or something bad happens?" the pinkette asked as she leaned her head forward and turned her head towards the man walking beside her so she can see the expression on his face.

"Well, let's hope that would not be the case. But just to be sure, I and probably Hoshi too will be there, watching everything from a safe distance. And if we will not see you and Uchiha anymore, we will hear everything you two say through an earpiece. You will have a microphone planted on the dress. And if you don't know what to do next we will give you instructions through the earpiece. "He finished, looking towards the sky. "Anymore questions?"

"No." Sakura replied as she shook her head.

Masuda looked at her and smiled. "I have a little present for you." he said as he stopped walking, taking Sakura's hand and holding it tight.

The kunoichi stopped and looked at him surprised. "A present? What is it?"She said as a smile made its way on her face.

"It's a surprise." Masuda looked at her and said as he started walking again. "Follow me."

After 5 minutes of walking, they stopped at a dress shop. Sakura looked at the store amazed. Through the store's windows she saw a great variety of beautiful designed dresses that were dressed up by some plastic mannequins. "Come on." Masuda said he walked inside, still holding Sakura's hand. They went to a woman and greeted her.

"Hello Masuda-san." She smiled. "And who is this beautiful girl next to you? Your girlfriend?" she winked, laughing at the expression the pinkette made after hearing what she said. Sakura's face was redder than a tomato!

"No Amy-san, we're not a couple." He replied laughing, even though in his mind he wanted it to be real. But after Uchiha is gone, she will be all his. "Amy-san let me introduce you to Sakura Haruno, a member of the anbu black ops from Konoha. She came here to take part to the masquerade ball." He then turned his head towards Sakura and winked. Sakura understood what he was trying to say to her. She smiled and decided to play along.

"Yes, I came here for the masquerade ball."

"I'm Amy Nagawe! Nice to meet you." She said as she shake hands with the kunoichi.

"Nice to meet you too Amy!" she smiled sweetly as she closed her big jade eyes. As she opened them again she notice the way Masuda was looking at her. He was smiling. His dark eyes sparked with happiness. It was kind of weird; at least that's what Sakura thought. 'He never looked at me this way before.' But she had no idea how wrong she was. It's weird to know that she didn't notice Masuda had a thing for her. He was always smiling at her, he was always the one who talked with her…But how could she notice when she was always thinking of a certain man with raven spiky hair and dark eyes.

"Amy-san, could you please bring us the dress we talked about yesterday?"

"Oh of course!" she said before she rushed into the storage room where she kept the dress.

Sakura looked pretty confused. The dress they talked about yesterday? 'Don't tell me he's going to buy me a dress!' she thought as she blushed a little.

After a couple of minutes, Amy came back with the dress in her hands. At the moment Sakura saw the dress her mouth dropped. 'So beautiful…' she said to herself.

"Why don't you try it on?" Amy said as she gave Sakura the dress and pointed a place in the back where she can change. Still blushing, Sakura took the dress and went in the back to change. Both Masuda and Amy looked at her.

"She's a really beautiful girl, Masuda-san. Does she have a date for the ball?" she said as she hit Masuda several times his arm with her elbow. A little annoyed, Masuda looked at her and sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes…she has a date."

"I'm not surprised. As I said before, she's such a beautiful girl. It would be a miracle if she was still single, wouldn't it?" she smiled.

"Yeah, it would be a miracle." He simply replied.

"So, how's he like?" Amy crossed her arms. Masuda looked at her puzzled. Amy sighed. "Her date! How's he like?"

The anbu smirked. "Let's just say that he is the bad guy type."

"The bad guy type?" Amy asked surprised. "And how would you describe a bad guy type, eh?"

"Why not ask Sakura-san?" he raised his voice at her. Masuda turned around so he won't face her. He narrowed his eyes and took a big breath of air. "I'm sorry I raised my voice at you Amy-san, but I'm kind of tired of this conversation…"

A sad smile appeared on Amy's big ruby lips. "You like her, don't you?" After he heard what she just said, he turned his head. His dark brown eyes had saddened. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. You don't have to be jealous on that guy because he has her. You will find a girl your type too, so don't worry."

xXx Secret Masquerade xXx

**Well, that's it for know. I know I probably have some grammar mistakes and some verb tenses mistakes, but I don't have time to correct them now. I hope you liked the chapter, even thought nothing much has happened, but I really needed to update really fast, and couldn't wait until I had 3000 words. But hopefully, I will update the next chapter next week.**

**Please review!**

~Love you all~

Sakura2cute4u


	12. Chapter 12

**Heya my dear readers ^^ Sorry for not updating last week, but I had a lot of other things to do, not so important as writing, but still I did them xD**

**I just want to thank you all for your reviews for my previous chapter, even though there weren't a lot xD Thank you for reading it! Love you so much! What am I saying, I love all my readers, even those who only read the story and don't review it I like to know the fact that people read my stories, even though they suck (for now).**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~chapter 12~**

She looked at herself in the mirror, her hands resting on her hips. An obvious shade of pink was present on her cheeks. 'This dress is so beautiful…' she thought. It was a long white strapless dress. The dress was very tight on her abdomen and breasts, with tiny red stones every here and there. The lower part of the dress was really flowy and long, with more layers of white material of different lengths.

The dress looked gorgeous on her. She looked just like an angel, except for the fact that she hadn't got any wings. Sakura smiled sweetly. "It looks pretty good on me. I should go and show Masuda-san and Amy-san." And with this things said, she turned around and left the fitting room.

She saw Masuda and Amy standing there, talking to each other, a quite sad expression on both on their faces. The pinkette raised one brow. 'What's with them?' she asked herself.

As she came closer to them, she noticed the fact that both Masuda and Amy turned their head to look at her. When Masuda and the kunoichi made eye contact, Sakura saw the anbu member looking a little bit shocked. I mean who wouldn't be? She looked amazing! She stopped in front of them.

"So, what do you say?" she asked, that beautiful smile of hers still present on her pale pink lips. Amy took both Sakura's hands and held them tight.

"You look amazing dear!" she smiled widely. "The dress fits you like a glove! Don't you agree?" she jerked her head towards Masuda.

Masuda closed his eyes and smiled. As he opened them, Sakura noticed that sparkle in his eyes, the same she noticed minutes earlier. "You look stunning, Sakura-san."

Blush

"Thank you, Masuda-san, Amy-san."

"Do you like the dress?"

"Are you kidding me? I love it! It is gorgeous."

"Then Sakura-san, go and change. You're taking this dress home." The anbu said, still smiling. Amy let go of her hands. Sakura, without hesitation jumped on him and embraced him, whispering over and over again 'thank you'. Masuda looked at Sakura as she left and stepped into the fitting room to change. "Well…" he sighed "Let's go to the cash register so I can pay the dress."

They turned around and went to the cash register. Masuda took his wallet out of his pocket. "How much does it costs?"

"36.325 yens." Amy looked at the man standing in front of her. "Why are you paying for her dress?" she asked, her voice barely audible. Masuda was surprised by her question. He looked up to see her face.

"Well, let's say that this is a gift."

"But why?"

"Why not?" he asked, smirking a bit.

Sigh.

"I don't know..." she lowered her head. "Wouldn't her date be mad? If I were in his situation, I would be more than that." She looked up at him.

"He wouldn't mind, trust me."

"And where is he, by the way? Why isn't he here with Sakura-san?"

"…"

Amy looked at him with big puzzled eyes. Why didn't he answer her question? And why was she putting so many questions? It's not like she was jealous or something like that. Or is she?

Well to be honest, Masuda and Amy have known each other since they were both in the ninja academy. They were really close friends, and it didn't last long until Amy felt in love with him. He was really powerful and really good looking back then. I'm not saying that he wasn't good looking anymore. He was even hotter! Well built, short dark blonde hair and big mysterious dark brown eyes. Amy was really beautiful, herself. Long dark purple hair, crimson eyes, and the body of a model…It's a shame she hadn't got a boyfriend yet. Both of them had 21 years.

But what happened between the two of them? Their relationship got colder and colder after Amy didn't passed her ninja exam and didn't graduate the Academy. She eventually gave up and started working in a dress shop at the age of 16. They rarely met, despite the fact that they lived in the same village, in the same neighborhood. Masuda was always gone on missions, and sometimes she was too busy with her work. But her feelings for him hadn't changed. And it hurt her to see him like that. He was obviously into Sakura.

"He's checking the ball room or takes care of some, you know, VIP's." he lied, trying to sound convincing. "He is also one of the organizers so he has to deal with stuff like this, you know."

"Oh…" she sighed. "Ok then…"

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sakura was now in the fitting room, looking at herself one last time in the mirror while wearing the ball dress. She took a big breath of air. 'Ok now, let's get this dress off.' She smiled. Suddenly the memory on the dream she dreamt for the past couple nights crossed her mind.

'_Sakura was sitting on a bed, in a dark room, dressed in a white dress. She was unconscious. A man entered the room. It was so dark, that you couldn't see his face. The only thing you could see was an Akatsuki uniform and some crimson eyes. He was getting closer and closer to the bed the young medic was on. The man performed a hand sign and soon, a blade appeared in his right hand. He was going to kill her._

_"This is for the fact that you distracted Sasuke." _'

Sakura felt on her knees, her breath caught in her throat. White dress? Distracted Sasuke? 'No, this must be just a coincidence!' It's just a coincidence that she is going to wear a white dress at the masquerade ball. It is just a coincidence that she will be there to distract Sasuke and kill him. Yes…it must be all just a big coincidence. Deep inside of her, she knew that this was a sign, even though she wanted to be wrong so bad!

"I just hope everything will be ok …"

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sakura got out from the fitting room and headed towards her friends with the dress in her hands, a really fake but-not-so-obvious smile on her face. Both of them were very quiet.

"So, I've paid the dress…we can go now. Thank you again Amy." He gave her a hug, even though she felt it was kind of cold. He took Sakura's dress from her and held it for the young medic. Sakura immediately went and hugged Amy, thanking her for the dress. The girl hugged her back.

"Your welcome, my dear. You'll be the most beautiful girl there, I can guarantee it." She smiled, breaking the hug. "And I'm sure your date will love it!" she happily said. Sakura widened her big emerald eyes confused.

"M-my date?"

Seeing that she hasn't got any idea about what Amy was talking about, he immediately interfered.

"Yes Sakura-san. Your date." Sakura turned her head towards him, her confused expression still present on her face. As soon as she saw the look in his eyes, she knew that he was only pretending and was asking her to play along.

"Oh, my date." She turned back to Amy. "Yes, I'm sure he will love it." She faked a smile as she closed her eyes. She sighed. "I think we must go now. Thank you again for the dress.

She waved goodbye and stepped out of the store. Before Masuda could have the chance to exit the store, Amy grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around and face her.

"Um…So…um, do you have a date for the ball? I mean, if you don't, we could go together, you know…I mean it will be really fun and stuff."

"Yeah, about that…Sorry but I can't go." He replied, not even looking at her. Seeing the way he acted, so distant and cold, Amy thought that he was just lying so he wouldn't have to go with her. She felt miserable. She thought he made up this stupid excuse just not to go with her. The purple haired let her head down.

"It's ok…" she lied as she let go of his arm. "Maybe next year." She smiled sadly. Too bad Masuda hadn't noticed how much she suffered because of him. "Bye. Hope I'll see you soon."

"Yeah." He simply replied as he stepped out of the store with the dress in his hands. He went next to Sakura, who was standing on a bench in front of the dress shop, her arms and legs crossed.

"Why did you told her I had a date?" she asked as she arched her left brow. She was very curious to find out the reason he told her that big fat lie.

"She asked me if you had a date, and I said 'yes', you do have a date. Why? Does it bother you?" he asked taking a seat next to the pinkette.

"Well, you shouldn't have lied." She leaned forward and turned to him.

"This isn't pretty much a lie because you'll spend all the evening with Uchiha."

After this, there was a pregnant silence. Neither of them said a word. Sakura started thinking about her former teammate and started imagining how the ball will run its course.

'Sasuke-kun…'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sasuke had enough. He needed to get out of the hideout. He needed some air. He was walking along a river near the village. He was in deep thoughts. How did Karin found out he was in Sakura's room? Did she spy on him? And if she indeed spied on him, he needed a reason. Karin wouldn't spy on him for nothing. And he didn't remember sensing her chakra around when he was near the hotel. He shook his head. 'I can't be this. But then, how did she found out? Unless…' he widened his dark coal eyes in shock 'she spied on Sakura.' But this only led to other questions, such as: 'how did she figured out that Konoha sent someone here?' or 'did she knew about Sakura being there way before Sasuke did?'

The things and theories he thought about only confused him, so he decided not to think about it for the moment. After walking several minutes he reached a waterfall. The crystal clear water falling from a cliff from over 20 feet high, the rainbow that formed because of the reflection of the sun, the chirping birds…This was the place he usually went to meditate and also train. This was his place. Neither of his comrades knew about it. He sat down on a big flat rock in the middle of the river in a meditating position. He closed his eyes and took a big breath of the fresh air arounding him.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Finally the Akatsuki leader returned to the hideout. Karin was the first one to greet him. As soon as she sensed Madara's chakra, she immediately went to the front door.

"What's with you here, Karin?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes. Karin looked up at her leader and answered. "I know who the kunoichi is." The man looked at her surprised, and then smirked.

"I knew you will find out." He said as he entered the house and headed for the living room. "So?" he asked as he threw himself on the sofa. "Who is she?"

Karin swallowed hard before she answered Madara's question. "Her name is Sakura and she is a medic-nin. "

"Ah, the Godaime's pupil!" he exclaimed. "I know who she is. I met her when she and some other leaf ninjas came after Sasuke after he killed Itachi." he said as he took his hand to his face and gently grabbed his chin. "You know that she is one of the best medical ninjas that ever existed?"

"No sir. I didn't know that information regarding her." She soon started playing with her fingers. It was obvious that she was nervous. "Madara-sama, there is something I have to tell you."

"But first, did you found Sasuke?"

"Yes sir. In fact, the thing I have to tell you is about him." She sweat dropped. She didn't know how Madara would react after hearing what Sasuke did the night before.

"About Sasuke?" he asked curious. "I'm all ears."

"Um, well…I found out that he went and visit Sakura last night in her hotel room."

Madara was stunned. "What did he do?" he yelled, making the girl in front of him jump.

"He went in her room when she was asleep. It seems that he knew about the kunoichi before us, but didn't want to tell."

The Akatsuki member closed his eyes and took a big breath of air in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Bring Sasuke here." He ordered opening his bloody red eyes.

"He isn't here. He left about an hour ago."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Well, done with this chapter. I hope you like it! I know nothing important has happened, but the masquerade ball getting is closer and closer. In the next chapter there will be a little time skip so I can finally write about the ball, because I know that is what you are all craving for, am I right?**

**I'm going to update the next chapter this week, maybe in two or three days. **

**Please review and tell me your opinion, because it is really important for me to know if you like it or not. Constructing criticisms are also very welcomed! **

**Love you all!**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	13. Chapter 13

**First: thank you so much for reviewing my story ^^ it means a lot to me.**

**Second: Sorry, but I will write about the ball in the next chapter. Right now, I kind of lost my inspiration about what to write about the ball…**

**I know I updated kinda late, but five days ago was my birthday and I couldn't write because my friends came to my house and we sort of partied and yesterday we went out xD I hope you understand why I haven't updated when I said I would.**

**As I said at the end of the previous chapter, there will be one (or more) time skip so the day of the ball will finally come. It will be a little rushed up, but I hope you don't mind.**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~chapter 13~**

Finally, after 2 long hours, Sasuke had returned to the hideout. He was greeted at the door by his leader. Sasuke ignored him and went pass him so he could enter the house. Madara hated when Sasuke acted like that. He gritted his teeth. He was so angry…

"Where have you been?" Madara asked as he closed the door and turned around to face Sasuke. The Uchiha prodigy didn't reply. He didn't give a damn about his leader right now.

Madara approached him. "I was worried the anbu caught you." He smirked. The raven haired turned his head and gave his leader a glare. Sasuke sat down on the couch and closed his eyes. "Or somebody else…" he continued, still smirking. The young Uchiha opened his eyes and looked in the direction Madara was. He frowned.

"What the hell are you talking about, Madara?"

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but Konoha sent a kunoichi here." He said as he took a seat next to the irritated Sasuke. The young Uchiha snorted. "Karin told me that a couple of hours ago."

As soon as he heard the name of his teammate, Sasuke opened his eyes in pure shock. 'Karin told him?' Madara, seeing the expression on his face, smirked in satisfaction. He wanted to tell him right there and then that he knew he went in Sakura's room and that the prodigy knew she was there from the beginning, but he decided to stick to the plan.

"I have a mission for you." he whispered, the evil smirk of his still present on his lips. Sasuke sighed in relief. He thought that maybe Karin told him everything that happened. "If she is here for the same reason her comrade was, which I don't doubt it, then she will go at the masquerade ball as well." He continued.

"So, what do you want me to do?" he asked using a pretty bored tone.

"You will capture her and bring her to me."

"What for?" the Uchiha asked irritated, narrowing his eyes. 'What is he planning to do with her?' he asked himself. But why was he asking anyway? He said he will forget about her and cut all his bonds with her. But it was kind of hard for him. After seeing her, something changed deep inside of him. He started to care about her, but not as intense as when he was 12.

"Well, let's just say that this is my little secret. And since the ball is almost a week away, you must spy on her so you will know every move she's going to make. Have I made myself clear?"

Sasuke just nodded. He got up from the couch and headed for the door. As he was about to close the door behind him, Sasuke heard Madara say "Don't disappoint me."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sakura and Masuda were in the pinkette's hotel bedroom. They were, again, talking about the masquerade ball. Sakura kept asking him how the ball was in the previous years and if he ever encountered any difficulties.

"Well yes, every time Uchiha is there. He messed up the ball that took place last year. He kidnapped two important people, Kaname Abigure and Shizu Yuri." He said. He was laid down on the comfy bed and was looking at the ceiling. Sakura let her head down. "Shizu Yuri? You mean…he kidnapped one of your family members?"

The anbu closed his dark chocolate eyes and took a big breath of air. "Yes, my younger brother." Sakura didn't know why, but she felt guilty, event though she knew Sasuke was the one to blame. "He was about your age." He sighed. Sakura turned her head and looked at him. She noticed the hurt expression on the man's face.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"Why are you apologizing? It's that damn Uchiha's fault!" he said as he got up. "That bastard!"

Sakura let her head down. A sad smile present on her lips. "Sasuke-kun wasn't always like this…He was so caring and protecting…"

"And the key word is 'was'." he said as he turned around to face her. "Sakura-san, Uchiha isn't how he used to be. He killed many, from anbu members to innocent people and… their children." Sakura could hear he sound of her heart breaking. Sasuke… killing children? "No…" she whispered, tears forming in her jade eyes. Masuda, seeing what effect the things he said had on her, decided to continue. "I saw him killing those innocent people. I won't forget the expression he had on his face while doing so. He was smirking."

Sakura couldn't hear these things anymore, so she covered her ears and burst out crying. She just couldn't believe it. She couldn't even make herself imagine Sasuke doing what Masuda had just described. It was impossible.

Masuda opened his arms and embraced her, in an attempt to comfort her. He shouldn't have exaggerated with that part. Sasuke never ever killed a child. The anbu member only said it so Sakura will start to hate Uchiha. And now, he had her in his arms…and it felt so good.

"How…many…did he…kill?" Sakura asked between sobs, hugging the man harder.

"Many…too many…."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sasuke was in front of the hotel Sakura was staying in. He activated his Sharingan so he could see if Sakura was in her room. He looked at the first floor, on the side where Sakura's suite was. He saw a feminine silhouette and next to her…a man's? The Uchiha raised his eyebrow. 'Maybe she's with one of the anbu I saw her with yesterday.' he thought. He silently jumped on a branch of the cherry tree situated right next to the hotel. He climbed higher until he reached her floor. He jumped from the branch on the balcony. He didn't see her there. 'She must be in her bedroom.' Luckily, the bedroom window was next to the balcony. And opened. Sasuke could hear what they were saying.

He could hear somebody crying. He immediately thought of Sakura. She was the one who usually cried for nothing.

"He wasn't like this before." He could hear Sakura say, still sobbing. "He wouldn't do such a thing…"

"You must face reality Sakura-san…" he heard a male voice say. "Uchiha has changed. He is a criminal now. That's why you have to kill him. You have to avenge the families that suffered because of him."

Sasuke was confused by the man's words. Sakura has to avenge the families he killed? This guy was talking bullshit! Sasuke never caused any harm to innocent people. The only ones he killed were his enemies who weren't innocent at all. Except for those two people he kidnapped. But it wasn't him that killed them, but Madara.

"Now cheer up Sakura-san. It's hard for me to see you like this."

He saw through the wall the female silhouette standing up, the male one grabbing her head. Maybe he was wiping her tears away.

"So Sakura-san, can you dance?" he heard the male voice ask her.

"Well…just a little. I'm not quite good at it."

At that moment he saw the man's silhouette moving closer to hers. He narrowed his eyes. He put one arm around her waist, while the other one held her hand. They slowly started dancing through her bedroom. And then something happened. Sakura tripped and fell on her back, that man on top of her.

"Masuda-san…" he heard her whisper. Suddenly, he saw something that let him a little bit shocked. He saw that man's head moving closer to hers, in an attempt to kiss her. And in less than a second, their lips met.

Sasuke turned his head. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He jumped down from the balcony, shoved his hands in his pocket and left without saying or thinking anything.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Her lips tasted so sweet. He wanted time to freeze and them to stay like that forever. But the need for air made them part. Sakura looked at him confused, a dark shade of pink present on her cheeks.

"Why did you do that?" her eyes as wide as they can get.

"I don't know, honestly." Masuda replied. "But I want to do it again." He said as he moved his face closer to hers. Sakura, seeing that he wants to kiss her again, pushed him off her and got up. "What's the matter?" the anbu asked as he got up and stepped closer to her. The cherry blossom took her fingers and touched her lips. "Didn't you like it?" he asked as a grin appeared on his lips.

Sakura closed her eyes and nodded. "Then? Why did you stop me?" As she opened her eyes, Masuda noticed that the girl in front of him was ready to cry.

"I…I'm sorry, but I can't…"

"Why?"

"I simply can't…I feel guilty. I feel as if I betrayed him."

Masuda couldn't stand it anymore. Again, it's about Uchiha. God damn, why did he even had to exist?

"Did you ever kissed a guy since he became a rogue ninja?" he muttered.

Nod.

"Did you ever felt like you were betraying him?"

Sakura shock her head.

"Why?"

"Do you really want to know?" she murmured. "It was because I had to kiss them when I was undercover. I never made a bound with neither of them. But with you, it's different. What I feel for you is pure, you know, just like some kind of brother love and nothing more. You remind me of my teammates that passed away…He was like a brother to me and was just as caring as you are with me. He was also Sasuke-kun's best friend." Sakura took a big breath of air. "I hope you understand why I can't…I'm sorry. Can we please forget this has never happened?"

Masuda nodded. After that, there was a pregnant silence. Neither of them said a word…

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Three days had already passed. In these three days, Sasuke kept on spying on Sakura. After he saw what he saw three days ago, he decided to cut all bonds with her. He decided to forget about her, about his past with her and concentrate on his mission. He spied her everyday, on the grounds she was training on and everywhere the pinkette would go.

There were just two days left. Two days until the masquerade ball. He was hiding in a tree near the spot Sakura always trained. He watched her as she exercised some tai-jutsu moves. Suddenly, the pinkette stopped and turned around. She looked up at the tree Sasuke was hiding in. Sasuke sweat dropped. It was the third time this day! Did she notice him or what the hell was happening?

Sakura sighed, turned around and started training again. Sasuke arched his left eyebrow. He was confused.

**xXx Secret Masquearde xXx**

Sakura was walking on the streets. She was heading to the hotel. The pinkette thought she trained enough for one day. Right now she just wanted to go and take a hot shower, to feel the hot streams tickling her skin. Only the thought of it made her heat up a little bit and smile.

The kunoichi suddenly felt something. A strange feeling. The same feeling that hunted her for the past three days. She felt as if somebody was watching her. She turned around and saw a man wearing normal clothes, with a hood on his head. The man's face was kind of hidden because he walked with his head let down, as if he was looking at the pavement.

Sakura turned around and stopped. She saw this man before. She turned her head to look at him again, but the man had mysteriously disappeared. She could swear she saw that man everywhere she went for the past three days. The young medic turned her head and started walking towards the hotel. 'That was strange…' she said to herself. 'I wonder where he could have gone…' She looked in front of her and saw the man she saw seconds earlier. He was walking away from her. 'What the hell? How did he do that?'

Sakura started walking faster. She wanted to find out who the hell was this man. When she was almost there she saw the man turning his head. At that point she stopped. Her breath caught in her throat. She saw those eyes. Those beautiful coal eyes…She knew them. But before she could say anything, then man turned his head and started walking away. Sakura stood there like she was made out of stone. Was that 'Sasuke-kun..?'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx **

'I hope she didn't saw me…' the young Uchiha thought as he made his way through the crowd. I mean, how could she know it was him? He only turned his head for a second! And his face was almost covered. If she definitely saw him, she only saw his eyes. You can't identify a man only by looking at his eyes, right? 'Because if she indeed identified me, then it will be ten times harder for me to capture her.' He sighed as he closed his eyes and continued his way through the crowd.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Well, this chapter is done! Next stop, the masquerade ball. I guess some of you are disappointed because I didn't write about the ball, but I promise I will in the next three or four days. It will be a really long chapter, so if you review, who knows? Maybe I will update it tomorrow or in two days because I get all enthusiastic and stuff when I see that some review my stories and I write non stop xD**

**So? What do you think about this chapter? It kinda sucked or it was good? I really want to know your opinion :D**

**Oh, and if I have mistakes, sorry, but it's because I didn't re-read it ^^**

**Hugs and kisses**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	14. AN

**Hey guys. Sorry to tell you this, but right now I'm on hiatus so that means that I won't update the next chapter soon…I have 4 exams in the next two weeks and I really need to study hard, so the next chapter will probably be up in 17-18 days from now. Again I'm sorry, I started writing the chapter about a week ago, but unfortunately I didn't finish it because I didn't had time. I thought to inform you about this…**

**Hope you understand!**

**~sakura2cute4u~**


	15. Chapter 14

**Yay! Finally finished with the exams! Gosh, they were so hard -_-" I did very good on the ones I thought I would mess up and did bad at the one I was certain I would get a good grade. Let's hope I will pass that one too ^^ I'm so happy I finally finished with them xD Now I have time to update more often. This is my favorite chapter so far, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it.**

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 14~**

The day finally came. The day the masquerade ball was held. The day that Sakura had to kill her former teammate… In the morning, Sakura didn't even want to get out of bed. Who would if they knew they had to kill the love of their life?

It was already 7pm. The ball starts at 8 pm and ends at midnight. Sakura was already dressed in her white dress, wearing some black high heels, waiting for Masuda to come.

Sakura had her pink hair pulled up in a messy bun, with her long bangs and some locks set loose at the side of her face. She decided to let her hair like it was. No more dyers! Masuda told her that women usually wear wigs of different colors, such as pink, red, purple, even green! So Sakura thought that no one will notice that this was her natural hair and not a wig.

The pinkette had a really egregious make-up which was in perfect contrast with her beautiful pale skin. Her eyes were surrounded by the famous smoky eyes make-up and black mascara. She applied a rose blush on her cheeks and a really matte ruby red lipstick on her full lips. She looked at herself in the mirror.

Smile

She looked stunning. The only piece that was missing was the mask. Where will she find a mask at this time? All shops were closed because everyone will be at the ball.

Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door. She smiled. She knew it was Masuda.

"Come in!" she yelled as she got up from the bed and started smoothing her dress. The door opened and it revealed not one but two men. Sakura's smile grew fonder.

"Hoshi-san!" the pinkette walked over to him and hugged him. "I'm glad you came."

"How could I not?" he broke the hug and looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He was speechless. The blonde anbu with gorgeous green eyes just stood there and stared at her.

The kunoichi turned her head a little and started blushing. She looked at the man standing behind Hoshi. Masuda. She waved at him to let him know she noticed him standing there. The anbu smirked and went to her with one of his hand behind his back. Sakura eyed him questioningly. Masuda told her to close her eyes and so she did. Smiling he brought his hand in front of her.

"You can open them now."

As she did so she saw something wrapped up in a beautiful black material. She looked at it for a second and then she looked into his eyes. "Take it."

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

The young medic took it and started taking off the silky material. What was hiding in it was a white mask. On the mask's corners were placed some bands of thin black lace and on the left side, three red feathers. It was very elegant; at least that was what Sakura thought of it.

"So? You like it?"

"I adore it! It is so beautiful…"

"Then why don't you try it on?" Hoshi asked. Sakura put it on and went to look at herself in the mirror. Her look was complete. Even with the mask covering half of her face, her dazzling emerald eyes were still noticeable.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

The raven haired ninja, dressed in a black tuxedo and with a dark blue mask on, just walked out of his hideout, hands in his pockets. He gazed at the sky. The sun was setting. He smirked. 'This will be a really interesting night.'

From the window, Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo watched him walk away. The red haired turned her head towards where her leader was.

"Who is he going to kidnap tonight? The Kage's daughter?" she asked, curious of what her leader will answer.

"No. He won't kidnap her. Not yet at least." he said as he sat back against the wall. "He will capture her some other time. Now he is on a very special mission." he said while grinning. "He has to abduct the kunoichi from Konoha."

As they heard that, both Suigetsu and Karin looked at him, pure shock written in their eyes. "What?"

"Since she's here, we must take advantage of her. She's one of the best medical ninjas in the world and possessed huge amounts of chakra. She must not slip between our fingers. It's a really rare occasion."

Suigetsu let his head down and sighed. "Does he know?"

Karin and Juugo looked at Madara, waiting for his reply.

"No." he answered still grinning. "I only ordered him to bring her to me."

When he heard his leader's words, he suddenly felt sorry for Sasuke. He didn't know why, but he thought that maybe Sasuke, as cold as he seemed to be, cared about his old teammate. And now that Madara planned what he planned with her… He honestly didn't know how his teammate will react. She was going to have the fate of the ones they drained chakra from before.

Karin looked at her silver haired comrade. She noticed the cheerless expression on his face. Who would blame him? Madara is using Sakura to hurt Sasuke and give him a lesson. She loved him and it obvious that he had developed some kind of feelings for the pink haired kunoichi…

"You three are going to keep a close eye on him. Understood? Now go!"

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Hoshi was now attaching the tiny microphone on Sakura's dress. He was careful where he placed it so Sasuke wouldn't see it. As he did so, Sakura looked out the window. The colors the sky had at that moment were spectacular: light blue, pink and orange. It kind of reminded her of the three of them: blue for Sasuke, pink for her and…orange for Naruto.

The pinkette let her head down and closed her jade pools. Naruto…Since she arrived here, she never thought of him. She was too busy to even think of him. Sakura felt something tickle the corner of her eyes. Tears of sorrow. The girl let out a sigh and with her index finger, she carefully wiped her tears away so she won't ruin her make-up.

'Soon, we will all be reunited…'

Sakura looked at her dress and saw that Hoshi's job was finished. She smiled sweetly.

"Thank you, Hoshi."

"Your very welcome." he smiled back. "You'll take your holster with you, right?"

The young medic nodded. "It's already on my leg."

"Good. Now Masuda…" The anbu turned around to face his comrade. "You brought the drug, haven't you?"

"Yes." The man replied as he took something from his pocket and placed it in Sakura's soft hands. "This is the drug I've been talking you about. The one that will absorb all the chakra a person possesses for a very limited amount of time, approximately one to two hours. That's why you will have to act fast after Uchiha will drink it."

Sakura stared at the little bottle she held in her hands. The crystal clear liquid inside the bottle was going to decide Sasuke's fate. If he drinks it, Sakura could make her move and kill him. If not, Sasuke would live and he will continue his criminal life. The pinkette hold the drug tightly in her hand before she placed it in the upper part of her dress, between her small breasts. She looked up and saw that Masuda had her earpiece in his palms. She took it and placed it deep in her ear, so it won't be too noticeable. After they've tested it to see if it really works, the pinkette took her black coat, put her mask back on and with the two anbu's behind her, she stepped out of the hotel and headed towards the castle for the ball.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

After half an hour, the three had arrived at the castle. Sakura looked up, admiring the beautiful castle and its architecture. The castle was build with dark grey stones and had every here and there, small statues of eagles, the same color as the stones. It had four big towers, one on every corner of the castle. It looked just like a castle from the dark era. It looked really old, despite the fact that it was built only 50 years ago. Surrounding the castle was an enormous and spectacular rose garden.

The pinkette felt something warm on her shoulder. It was Masuda's hand. He told her that he and Hoshi were going to back to their hiding spot, a quarter of mile away from there. He also told her to be careful, and if something bad happens both he and Hoshi will come as fast as they can to help her.

"But again, let's hope that it won't be the case. You are a great ninja who assassinated many dangerous fugitives and rogue ninjas. You will handle it greatly. Especially that you know how Uchiha fights."

"Masuda's right. You are a great ninja. That's the reason we asked you to come here and kill him. If we could have killed him all by ourselves, we wouldn't have done so. But as we told you when we were in Konoha, he knew that we were on his tracks due to the fact that we tried to capture him so many times before. He started spying us, and before we knew it, he knew all our plans, to the smallest detail. We needed to surprise him. It is the only way we could get rid of him."

Sakura smiled sadly. "I know that, and I don't blame you for bringing me here. I will do my anything to help the people from the Snow Country, even if that means killing Sasuke-kun…"

Both Masuda and Hoshi embraced Sakura tightly. "Good luck."

"Thank you."

And with those things said, the two anbu went to their hideout while the pink haired kunoichi went inside to look for her 'pray'.

A man, sitting behind a statue, heard the whole discussion. Even though his emotionless façade didn't reveal anything, deep inside of him, he was hurt. He got up from where he was sitting and went inside to his old teammate and lover, ready to capture her.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sakura was making her way through the crowd. When Masuda said that the whole village will be here, she thought that it was just a joke. But it seemed that the pinkette was wrong. The ball room was full of masked people, most of them wearing costumes like the ones people wore in the Elizabethan era, while the others wore more modern dresses and tuxedos. Everyone was wearing wigs, both men and women. The women wore colorful wigs, while men wore long white wigs, pulled up in a very low ponytail.

Now she was looking for a certain man, one with spiky raven hair, but until then, she hadn't found him. Sakura was beginning to think that Sasuke, too, was wearing one of those ridiculous wigs. But after searching for him for over 15 minutes, she finally spotted him. He was standing near a table with a glass of French champagne in his right hand. It seems he was looking at her, with a smirk on his face.

Sakura narrowed her eyes a little. Now, it was the time she had to pretend being someone else. But after she spotted him, she didn't even want to lie to him. The young medic only wanted to run into his arms and say 'Sasuke-kun, I missed you so much! It's me Sakura!' But she knew the fact the she couldn't do as her heart was dictating her to. He was a criminal, a murderer. She had to kill him. There was something that bothered her a little. Even after Masuda told her what Sasuke had done over these two years, she still felt the same...her feeling for him hadn't changed.

She gulped and made her way to him, walking graciously through the crowd, with a big smile on her face. She arrived in front of him. Before she could say something, she looked in his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. 'Those eyes…I saw them a couple of days before!' she thought, while widening her eyes. 'That man that was following me was indeed Sasuke-kun!'

"Hello." he greeted her, the smirk still present on his lips. Sakura looked at him, the smile still present on her lips. She took a bow.

"Hello to you too." she said, using a different voice. "May I ask your name?"

Sasuke took her hand and kissed it. "Ryoku Moshi." After he replied, he kissed her hand once more. "May I ask yours?"

'He's using another name.' she thought. 'Well, two can play the same game.'

"My name is Kaname. Kaname Shitsu."

"I'm pleased to meet you." He said, letting go of her hand and taking a sip from his drink. Sakura eyed him intense, analyzing his every move.

"The pleasure is all mine, mister Moshi."

"Call me Ryoku, Kaname."

'Why were you following me these days, Sasuke-kun?'

"Alright, Ryoku." She replied, laughing slightly.

'Do you know I'm after you?'

Sasuke put the glass of champagne on the table and asked her if she wanted to dance. Sakura smiled kindly and nodded. The man placed one of his hands around her waist, while with the other one he took her hand and held it tightly. Sakura placed her free hand on his shoulder and started dancing.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

On a hill near the castle, there were three people sitting on the wet grass, two of them with binoculars in their hands, the other one with some a bird on his shoulder. The two with the binoculars were watching their teammate dancing with a certain pink haired girl along other couples.

"Do you think we should go in, Karin?" the purple eyed shinobi asked his teammate.

"No." the said girl replied. "We will watch them from here. Remember, Madara told us to keep an eye on him. If we go there, he will immediately know we are following him."

"Can I have that?" the orange haired man asked, taking the binoculars from Suigetsu's hands. He brought them to his eyes and started looking at the pair as they were executing their marvelous dance. He especially looked at the girl Sasuke was dancing with. "She's cute." he whispered.

"How do you know? You haven't seen her face. And neither have I." the silver haired sighed as he closed his eyes. "What a shame…"

"Suigetsu!"

"I just feel it." Juugo replied, smiling.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

"I've never seen you here before. From which country are you, Kaname?" Sasuke asked, still holding the pinkette in his strong arms, dancing like there was no tomorrow, ready to hear his old teammate's answer.

"Sand" she replied, smiling, showing her pearl white teeth. "I suppose you're from here. Am I right?"

He leaned his head forward to whisper in her ear. "You're more than right." Ah, his hot breath on her skin sent chills down our heroine's spine. She liked it so much…

"So Kaname, you're a medical ninja?" he asked while grinning.

Sakura sweat dropped.

"No." she started laughing madly. "What gave you the idea that I would be a medical ninja?"

"I don't really know. I just felt it."

Sakura started feeling very uncomfortable. "Umm, can we take a break?"

"Sure." the man replied, the grin still present on his lips. 'It seems that she's really freaked out right now. Good.' He saw her heading towards a table. 'Let's freak her out a little more.' He went after her.

Sakura took a glass from the table and poured some champagne she found in a bottle from the same table. She took the glass to her mouth and took a sip. Suddenly she felt somebody grabbing her shoulders with some really cold hands. She immediately turned her head to see Sasuke.

"You seem so familiar to me, Kaname."

"R-really?" the young medic asked as she turned around to face him. She was starting to get nervous. "Maybe you saw me these days on the streets."

"No, no." he shook his head. "You remind me of someone…"

"Of who?" she asked. She hoped with all her heart and soul that he wouldn't say she reminded him of his old teammate.

"I don't remember her name…"

'He's making fun of me right now. Let's just hope I will be the one who will make the first move.'

"_Sakura-san."_ She heard Hoshi's voice in her ear. **"**_Send him away from you. We need to talk."_

"Sa-…Ryoku?"

"Yes?" he took both her warm hands in his icy ones. "Is there something wrong?" he asked with a serious voice.

"Umm…I was wondering, would you go and bring me my coat if I begged you?" She looked straight in his eyes while saying that, a small but charming smile present on her lips. "What for?" the raven haired asked. "Are you cold? It's 24 degrees inside."

"No, it's just that I want to go to the balcony that's upstairs. I bet the scenery is amazing."

Sasuke smirked. "Ok."

"It's a short black coat. It's on the first coat hanger on the left, near some white fur coats."

And with that said, he was off to bring the pinkette her coat. As soon as he was out of sight, Sakura turned around and started talking.

"Alright. He's gone."

"_Sakura-san, I have a strange feeling that he knows who you are."_ she heard Hoshi say.

"Well, to tell the truth, I noticed him following me for the past few days, but I wasn't sure it was him."

"_Why didn't you tell us?" _the kunoichi heard Masuda's voice coming from the earpiece and it seemed he wasn't too pleased to hear about Sasuke following her.

"I didn't want to!" The girl barked, making some people that were standing near her jump and look at her like she had psychological disorders. Well, to them, she looked like she was talking to herself. Sakura apologized and started whispering. "I didn't want to tell you because then he would have gotten suspicious that maybe I told you I know about him following me and spying on me. I consider I proceeded right not telling you."

After that, there was a pregnant silence. Neither of them said a word. That's until Sakura saw Sasuke coming back with her coat.

"He's coming…" she whispered.

"_Make your move_." Masuda said on a very icy tone.

Sakura took the bottle from between her breasts, opened it and poured it in his glass of champagne. She then put the empty bottle back from where she took it. She turned around and saw Sasuke two feet away from her. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Here's your coat." He said, passing her the coat.

"Thank you." she said as she put her coat on. She asked him if he wanted to join her, and of course, he nodded. Sakura took both glasses of champagne in her hands, and then gave Sasuke the one she poured the drug in. "Let's go." she said.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

"It is so beautiful…" she whispered as she looked at the sky. The full moon was up… "Isn't it?" she asked him as she turned around to face him before she took another sip from her glass.

"Indeed." he simply replied. As he took his drink up to his mouth, he noticed the champagne had a funny smell. He sniffed it one more time. 'She put something in my drink.' he thought as he eyed her. Sakura looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…" he answered. Suddenly, he took the drink from Sakura's hand and put them both on a table near them. "Do you want to dance?"

"Out here? With no music?"

"Is it necessary to have music?"

"No…" she smiled and took his hand. As they started dancing, a song started playing inside, but it was so loud that even they could hear it. It started with some instrumental and soon a woman's voice was heard.

_I know, you think that_

_I shouldn't still love you_

_Or tell you that…_

_But if I didn't say it,_

_Well I still have felt it._

_Where's the sense in that?..._

"I like this song." the pinkette said as she put her head on Sasuke's shoulder. "I think it is really romantic what the lyrics are saying."

"I don't know…I never heard this song before."

_I will go down with this ship…_

_And I won't put my hands up_

_And surrender…_

_There will be no white flag above my door._

_I'm in love, and always will be._

After another a minute or so of swaying on the balcony, Sakura said she needed to drink something because her throat was dry. Sasuke let go of her and told her that he will bring the drink to her. He grabbed both glasses and gave one to Sakura. After that, they both started drinking from their glass as if they were drinking water and not alcohol. Sakura saw in the corner of her eye Sasuke drinking the whole glass. She smirked. He drank the drug.

_And when we meet,_

_Which I'm sure we will…_

Suddenly, Sakura dropped the glass from her hand, and at the contact with the floor, it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

_All that was there_

_Will be there, still…_

Sakura all of a sudden felt very dizzy and was about to fall down on the cold floor if it wasn't for Sasuke who caught her in the last second.

_I'll let it pass and hold my tongue,_

"Sakura…" he whispered as a smirk made its way to his lips.

_And you will think that I've moved on!_

"Got you."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Wow, quite a long chapter, don't you agree? xD**

**Kya! I can't wait to write the next chapters because they will be full of action and drama, you will love them.**

**In the next chapter I will probably reveal what happened to Naruto, another reason for you to wait to read it.**

**I really hope you liked it, because for me, it was really fun to write. I, at some point, was so concentrated on what to write next that, even if there was noise in the room, I didn't even noticed.**

**Please review and tell me if you liked the chapter because I'm aching to know if it was good or bad!**

**XoXoXo**

**~Sakura2cute4u~ **


	16. Chapter 15

**Hello my dear readers ^^**

**First, I want to thank you all for your wonderful reviews so far. I hope I will receive more like these in the future because they just made my day.**

**Second, I'm really glad you all enjoyed reading the previous chapter. From now on, there will be a lot of dynamic moments, and last but not least, Sasusaku fluff x3 It wouldn't be a sasusaku story if there was no sasusaku fluff, ne?**

**Anyway, enjoy chapter 15!**

**Secret Masquerade **

**~chapter 15~**

The kunoichi was stunned, eyes wide as they could get. Her lips parted. She wanted to say something, anything, but couldn't. She couldn't move. In fact, she couldn't even feel her body. It's like it went numb. She looked up at Sasuke who had a big smirk on his face.

'I drank from the wrong glass. Sasuke-kun…how did you figure out it was drug that I poured in your drink?...'

"Feeling dizzy, eh? You wanted to drug me, Sa-ku-ra?" he lowered his head so he could whisper in her ear. "Of course you wanted. You wanted to kill me when I was weak, right?"

The pinkette tried to move, even though she knew it was useless. The drug absorbed all the chakra and strength from her body. She narrowed her emerald pools. 'I should have figured out that he will give me that glass. I'm so stupid!'

Suddenly, she heard something in her left ear.

"_Sakura-san! What happened? We can't see you."_

Sasuke, being so close to Sakura, heard the noise coming from her ear. He knew that she had an earpiece. Suddenly his smirk disappeared. He gently took the earpiece from her ear and took it close to his, so he can hear what the man was saying.

"_Did you drug him? Did you finish him off?"_

He recognized that voice. The one that was talking was clearly the anbu that kissed Sakura several days ago. He gritted his teeth.

"Sakura" he whispered so the anbu couldn't hear "where is the microphone?"

At that moment Sakura closed her eyes. No hell would she tell him where it was hidden. Besides, she couldn't talk. Sasuke sighed but then smirked.

"Ok, then I'll have to search for it myself."

He first inspected the upper part of her dress. He touched her chest trying to find it. When he accidentally touched one of her breasts, something warmed up inside of him. He automatically took his hand of off her and shook his head. He gulped. Good thing Sakura hadn't felt it. He narrowed his superb obsidian eyes and looked closely at the dress, ignoring the fuzzy feeling inside of him. Finally, he saw it. It was hidden near the spot he touched earlier. It was really small and red, just like the stones on her dress, that's why it was so hard to see.

He took it in his hand and took it near his mouth.

"Sakura can't talk right now. Try catching her later." And with that said he dropped both the earpiece and the microphone on the ground and crushed them under his foot.

At his words, Sakura opened her eyes and started looking around like crazy. Sasuke took her in his arms, bridal style. Because of the drug, Sakura couldn't even keep her head on her shoulders. The raven haired looked at her. She was so vulnerable and so weak. He never saw her like that. He didn't even know if she will ever get out of this state because he knew nothing about the drug. He just hoped the effect will disappear sooner or later…

The young medic looked at him. 'Where is he taking me?' she thought. Sakura tried moving her fingers, to see if she regained at least a small part of her strength. She could feel her fingers moving. 'It seems the numbness is starting to disappear.' After a while, she tried moving her arm and succeeded. She smirked.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

They stood there, stiff as stone. They were totally taken aback. Uchiha talked at Sakura's microphone. It was bad. Suddenly they both got up from where they were sitting and started running as fast as they could towards the castle. They couldn't waste any minute. It was clear as water that Sakura was in danger. They just hoped she will be alright until they arrive there.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

"So…what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" the red head turned her head to look at her silver haired teammate.

"Are we going to tell Sasuke about what Madara is planning with her?"

Karin was stunned by his words. Tell him about Madara's plan? What was her comrade thinking? If they disobeyed Madara's orders, they will be in trouble. But on the other hand, Suigetsu indeed had a point. Sakura was Sasuke's old teammate. Would it be better for Sasuke to find out himself what Madara plans to do with her? Would he really cope with the idea of losing his former teammate? Of course he won't. And soon after that, he will seek revenge.

"I really don't know, Suigetsu. I really don't know." she repeated as she fully turned around to look at the caste. Then something caught her eye. There were two people running like crazy towards the grand castle. She took the binocular in her hands and looked through it. Those two people looked as if they were anbu, except for the fact that they weren't wearing masks. "Shit!" she cursed under her breath as she pointed out towards the two anbu.

"What's happening?" both Suigetsu and Juugo started looking towards where their comrade was pointing. As they realized who they were, they immediately got up from the grass and started running down the hill, desperate to catch them. Karin sighed as she got up from the ground and ran behind the two.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

They were about to reach the ballroom. Sasuke was still holding the pinkette in his strong arms, looking down at her as she seemed to have fallen asleep. She looked so innocent and calm when she was sleeping…he closed his orbs and took a big breath of air. And before he knew it, Sakura wasn't in his arms anymore. Shocked, he opened his eyes and started looking around for her.

"Behind you." she yelled as she lunched a punch. Sasuke turned around and easily dodged it. He grabbed her fist. The kunoichi desperately tried to free her hand, but failed. Sasuke grabbed her other arm and took it behind her back. It was really uncomfortable for Sakura and it stared hurting her. She gritted her teeth.

"Ready to give up?" he whispered hotly in her ear.

Smirk.

"In your dreams."

She hit his knee with her foot, hoping that he will release her. And so he did, even though her hit wasn't powerful enough to hurt him. He was just playing with her, letting her to believe she will bring him down.

Sasuke eyed her questioningly as he saw her ripping half of the lower part of the dress. He saw her taking a kunai from her holster. The raven haired looked at her face. Her face was pretty flushed. He noticed she was having breathing problems. He then looked at the kunai in her shaking hand. He sighed.

"Why don't you give up? You are weak and you're only making this harder for you."

Sakura threw the kunai towards Sasuke and started running down the hallway, desperately trying to find a window or something like that so she can escape. Sasuke arched his eyebrows as he saw the kunai falling down, two meters before him. 'She's exhausted.' he observed.

As she was running further and further away from Sasuke, she turned around to see if he was following her. Suddenly, she stopped and fully turned around. She narrowed her stunning emerald eyes. She took off her mask and threw it on the ground. 'Where is he?' she thought, panting like crazy.

In two seconds or so, she found herself backing the wall, Sasuke holding her hot shoulders tight with his icy hands.

"Let me go!" she screamed as she started hitting his chest with her fists. Sasuke brought her closer to him, their bodies making contact.

"No one can save you now."

And in less than a second he pushed her hard against the wall making the pinkette lose her consciousness. He caught her before she could hit the floor and took her in his arms. He looked at her angelic face and spotted a tear rolling down her cheek. With his thumb, he gently wiped the tear away.

'I never liked seeing you cry.'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Masuda and Hoshi were almost there. The castle was 250 yards away from them. As they saw that they were getting closer, they started running faster and faster, worried for their new teammate's safety. When they were about to reach the entrance, three people appeared in front of them.

"What the-"they stopped in their tracks. They widened their eyes in pure shock. "Uchiha's teammates…" Masuda mumbled.

"You two are not going anywhere." Suigetsu said as he took his heavy and sharp sword in his hand. He turned his head to look at his female comrade. "Go and warn him! I and Juugo will keep them busy."

The redhead nodded and wasted no time. She turned around and started running, never looking back to see if her friends could handle the two anbu. She entered inside. She started looking around to see if she could spot Sasuke, though it was hard because of all the masked people dancing and moving from side to side. Karin closed her crimson eyes. 'Maybe if I try to sense his chakra…' She stayed like that for another 10 seconds or so before she opened her eyes and started running up the stairs.

She spotted Sasuke with the pinkette in his arms walking down the stairs, slowly. She took a big breath of air and ran towards him.

"Sasuke." she stopped in front of him, panting a little bit. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What are you doing here, Karin?" he asked bored, not even looking in her eyes.

"I came to warn you about Madara."

"Madara?"

"He wants to kill Sakura! You must take her somewhere safe, somewhere Madara wouldn't think searching for you."

It took a while for the information his teammate just gave him to register in his mind. After it did so, he held Sakura tightly and pulled her even closer to him in a very protective way. Karin looked at him as he did so. She let her head down and closed her eyes. She bit her lip.

'It seems he really cares about her. He cares about her in a way that he never cared for someone else, like me for instance.'

Karin felt something tickling the corners of her gorgeous eyes. Tears. Suddenly she felt something on her shoulder. A hand. She raised her head to look at Sasuke.

"Thank you." he whispered.

"Yeah…" she faked a smile. "Now go."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

After Sasuke found out about Madara's plan to kill Sakura, he ran in the woods with his former teammate, in a place dear to him where his leader wouldn't find them so easily. It was near the waterfall he usually went to meditate. That place was about 2 miles away from their hideout. When he was there a while ago, he noticed an old hut on the cliff the water was falling from.

He opened the wood door, slowly so he wouldn't destroy it. He let the young medic on the wet grass before he entered. He wanted to be sure that there was no wild animal of any kind. And, fortunately for them, there wasn't. He went back outside, picked the pinkette up of the ground and took her inside. He noticed the fact that there was no bed, no chair, absolutely nothing. He sighed. He wouldn't just let Sakura sleep on the cold floor, would he? He put her down a little so he could take his jacket off and placed it on the floor. Sasuke gently picked Sakura up put her on his jacket. At least that was all he could do before he could think of something else.

The raven haired decided to go look for some old branches to start a fire inside so they won't freeze to death. It was warm during the day, but freezing cold during the night. When he went outside, he tried closing the door slowly so that the noise that the door made wouldn't wake the kunoichi. But unfortunately for him, it did wake Sakura up.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Well, that's it for now. Sorry I didn't reveal how Naruto died, but I promise I will in the next chapter.**

**So, what do you think will happen next? Well, I can say that there will be a little drama, but I won't tell anything else :P**

**I will probably update at the end of this week, or who knows, maybe in two days :D**

**Oh and sorry if there are some mistakes, but I will correct them some other time **

**Please review and tell me your honest opinion ^o^**

**Xoxo**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	17. Chapter 16

**Secret Masquerade **

**~Chapter 16~**

The girl sitting in the middle of the hut had just waked up. She opened her emerald pools and blinked several times. The pinkette narrowed her eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked as she slowly got up from the floor and started looking around. It didn't take long for our heroine to figure out she was alone in there. She looked at the ground and spotted a black jacket. Sakura picket it up and put it on because of the cold. The young medic walked out of the hut. "What happened to me? Where is Sasuke-kun?" She started walking further away from the hut and into the dense forest, trying hard to find any place that she thought it was familiar to her so she could find her way back to the village.

She suddenly heard something coming closer and closer to her. The pinkette looked around, but spotted nothing. Again she heard the same sound of breaking branches, but now it came from behind her. Sakura immediately turned around, but she could see nothing, only darkness. She took several steps in that direction, slowly, watching carefully where she was stepping so she won't make any noise. She stopped as she spotted something. There was a man apparently gathering some branches from the ground.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled as she came closer to the man. When she was behind him she asked if he knew the way back to the village. The stranger turned around. The kunoichi's breath was caught in her throat. She immediately took some steps back.

"Sasuke-kun." she whispered. Suddenly, the man standing in front of her disappeared and appeared behind her. He hit her in the back of her neck and made her lose consciousness.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

'Why is it so warm in here?' the kunoichi thought as she opened her eyes. She spotted a small fire next to her. She slowly got up and looked around. 'I'm in here again?' she sighed.

"Good, you're awake."

"Sasuke-kun!" she turned around to face him. He was sitting in one corner of the hut in a meditating position. She narrowed her sparkling jade eyes. "Why? Why did you bring me here? What the hell do you want from me?"

"I'm trying to protect you." he murmured.

She was shocked. Sasuke? Wanting to protect her? After she tried to drug and kill him? No way! 'This must be a scheme.' she thought as she crawled to the opposite corner. She snorted.

"Trying to protect me? From what?" she smirked.

"Madara. He wants to kill you."

"Oh, so you tried protecting me from him by fucking drugging me?" she barked. Sasuke didn't answer. He just stayed there, calmly looking at the pinkette who looked as if she was about to jump on him and punch him to death. "Answer me!"

"I don't have to give you explanations." He sighed.

Smirk

"Of course you don't. Wouldn't it have been much easier to tell me what's happening from the beginning than drugging me and leaving me unconscious numerous times? No!" Sasuke still didn't say a word. Again, why would he waste his voice trying to explain everything to her?

"I know why!" she raised her voice and got up from where she was sitting. "It's much easier for you to leave me unconscious than giving explanations because you're a freaking coward!"

"Enough!" he hissed as he ran to her and grabbed her by her throat. "I'm not a coward! You wouldn't have understood! You would have thought that I was only tricking you to come with me!"

"Sasuke-kun…you're-"she gripped his arms tightly "hurting me."

"How come? I am only a coward!"

Sakura looked in his eyes. They've turned crimson red.

"Sasuke-kun-"she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Please…" she whispered.

"Well, wouldn't your teammate, Naruto, come and help you out? Isn't it always like that?" He looked around the room. "Naruto? Where are you, dobe? Naruto! Your precious Sakura-chan is in danger!" He jerked his head to Sakura.

"Stop it!" she cried.

"Why stop?" he yelled. "Naruto! Come out, come out wherever you are!"

"Please stop!" she screamed as big fat tears streamed down her porcelain cheeks.

"Who's a coward now? You are Naruto!"

The pinkette couldn't stand it anymore. She bit her lower lip and screamed.

"Naruto's dead!"

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

They just couldn't believe it. Uchiha captured Sakura. Due to Uchiha's companions they couldn't reach them in time to get her back. God, they felt miserable. Especially Masuda. He was the one who promised her everything will be alright and that if she's in trouble, they will be there to protect her no matter what. And where were they? They were struggling to win the battle between them and Uchiha's teammates. And they lost. When they were down, that silver haired dude and the other one left along with the redhead, no one knows where. But the anbu had a feeling that they were going after Uchiha.

Now they were in the hokage tower, writing a report letter to The Godaime from Konoha about the mission. It wasn't easy for them writing it though. They were thinking how the hokage will react after reading what happened. Masuda was writing the final sentence.

"_We require you send some ninjas here to help us in our search to find Miss Haruno."_

After they've signed the letter, they took the scroll to a room where there was a pretty large number of hawks. They tied the scroll to one's leg and set it free, hoping the letter will arrive in Konoha soon. Now the only thing they could do until backup comes is pray for Konoha's cherry blossom to be safe and sound.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

'Dead?' the man with mysterious eyes thought as he let go of his former teammate's throat, finally letting her breathe. He felt down in front of the pinkette. He couldn't believe it. Naruto, his old friend and enemy was dead? He looked at the girl in front of him crying her eyes out.

'_You're hurting me.'_

Damn it! Damn it all! Why did he have to lose control? Did it do any good? No…He just hurt her both physically and emotionally. But anyway, why did he lose his temper? Because he was called a coward? No. He lost it because _she_ called him a coward. He wouldn't give a damn if someone else named him a coward because he didn't cared about others' opinion of him.

Still sobbing like crazy, Sakura took both her hands and gently grabbed the place the man sitting in front of her gripped with such fury. She looked at him, eyes full of fear. He didn't even looked at her, but after the expression the young Uchiha had on his face, she figured out that he was sorry.

Afraid he might hurt her again, the cherry blossom stood up. She wanted to go as far away from him as possible. 'This isn't the old Sasuke-kun I once knew and loved.' When she was about to make a step, Sasuke grabbed her hand and hold it tight.

"Please…" she heard him whisper "Don't go."

Sakura didn't even know what to do. She just stood there, her hand still in Sasuke's.

"I'm…sorry." he murmured as he looked up at the pinkette. Sakura, feeling that what he just said came from heart, sat back on the ground. "How did-"he let go of Sakura's hand "-Naruto died?" he asked, looking at the ground.

Sakura sighed. It was really hard for her to talk about it. She took her hands to her face to wipe the tears away.

"Well, I'm the one to blame for his death." she whispered, still sobbing. "I…It all happened when Pain and his gang came and destroyed Konoha. Well, initially they came after Naruto and when they found out he wasn't there, Pain thought that if he tries destroying the village, Naruto would eventually come back. And so he did.

But before Naruto came back, his gang killed almost half of Konoha's population and injured thousands, and for me and other medical ninjas it was really hard keeping up with the number on injured which was always rising. Then it was this big explosion which destroyed every building, except for the Hokage Tower. I was in the hospital when it happened. After the explosion the building felt on us. I…I was lucky to escape safe and sound, but for my colleagues and the patients, death was knocking at their door.

I saw them killing people that I cared for, my family, some of my friends. It-"Sakura started crying "It was really hard for me to watch. And I was so mad at me, because I had no chakra left to go and fight them. I remember I started screaming for Naruto to come and save us. And in less than a second after I said that, he was there, in front of Pain."

Sakura started crying harder and harder, not able to hold back her tears like a ninja has to. Sasuke looked at her shaking form. He crawled next to her and put his left arms around the pinkette's neck. Sakura turned around and hugged him, burying her head in his shirt while she gripped it and hold tightly onto it. The raven haired, with his other hand, tried comforting her by caressing her back.

"Um…" she started "I will skip the part when Naruto fought Pain because it is too painful to remember." she said between sobs.

"After he killed Pain, Neji-san and Lee-san brought him back. He was unconscious and was barely breathing. He needed to be healed fast because he had internal bleeding and some opened fractures. Tsunade-sama was in coma at that time after she tried to fight Pain and Shizune was in coma herself, making me the only medical ninja left to heal him, because as I said before, most of them were killed when the hospital felt on them and the remaining where badly injured and had to heal themselves if they wanted to survive.

Believe me, I tried healing him but-"the grip on his shirt had tightened "I was out of chakra myself. I knew he was going to die because of blood loss. I…I kneed beside him and put my head on his chest. I heard his heart struggling to beat. It was horrible." She burst out crying. "And then, I heard him say my name. I looked at him. He still had his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry…" I heard him whisper.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Naruto!" I screamed. "I, I can't save you." That's when I saw him smiling.

"That's ok, Sakura-chan."

"No! It's not ok! You're freaking dying! How could you say that 'it's ok'?"

"Sa-Sakura-chan…I am dying because I protected the village." he struggled to say. "I don't have any regrets regarding that. The only regret I have is that I can't keep my promise." I saw a tear rolling down his face. "Sakura-chan…" he grabbed my hand "I-I love you. I-I'm s-sorry."

"At that time his heart stopped beating." Sakura let go of his shirt and took her hands to her face. "I'm sorry I'm crying, Sasuke-kun." she said still crying with hiccups. "I know I'm weak." After her last comment, she felt something on top of her head. A pair of lips softy kissing her head.

"Don't consider yourself weak just because you show your emotions. You-"he took her chin and raised her head so their gazes will meet. "You're not weak at all. You're very strong."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Eh, what do you think? You wanted SasuSaku fluff, you got it xD I really love how Sasuke tries to comfort Sakura and what he says in the last paragraph. I know Sasuke is a little OOC in this chapter, but I'm still working on keeping him in character and I must say that it's really hard ."**

**I want to thank you all for your wonderful reviews on the previous chapter. I'm glad you liked it ^^ I hope you'll like this chapter even more than 15 xD**

**Next chapter, I don't really know when I'm going to write it because I will probably go to my grandparents' house next week and stay there for a little while.**

**Review! :D**

**Hugs and kisses**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello my dear, dear readers ^^ I know it's been some weeks from when I last updated and I hope you'll forgive me, but I was gone to my grandparents' place for one week and when I came back me and my mom started painting the walls and today we've finally finished! God, I'm so happy! Now I have time to write :D**

**Thank you for your beautiful reviews on the previous chapter! They really made my day and made me smile and squeal like crazy. You guys really don't know how happy I am that you like it ^^**

**Anyway, here is chapter 17. **

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 17~**

They were sleeping beside each other on the cold ground. The fire was out for some hours, and the air inside the hut was getting cooler and cooler by the minute. It was so quiet both inside and outside the hut. The only thing you could hear was the river's water hitting the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

Sakura fluttered her eyes open. She looked in front of her and found Sasuke peacefully sleeping next to her, his head turned towards her. The pinkette smiled, but her smile soon disappeared as she remembered why was she in the Snow Country, why was she with Sasuke…The girl got up from where she was sleeping and saw that Sasuke's jacket was on her. She looked at it confused.

'Sasuke-kun must have put it on me when I was sleeping…" she thought as she started walking around, slowly stepping on the wooden floor so she won't wake him up. She thought deeply of what to do. She promised she will kill Sasuke, but in that moment she didn't even want to think about it. It was a really hard decision to make. Sasuke was her special person, the man she loved for so many years, but it seemed that Sasuke's feelings for her have disappeared. Sasuke was a cold heart murderer. He killed thousands, from what she had heard from Masuda, Pain and others.

She looked down at her holster. With her hand shaking, she took a kunai from it and stepped closer to Sasuke. The young medic kneed beside him. Her eyes were filling with tears. She grabbed the kunai with both her shaking hands. She had to kill him so there won't be anymore victims. She had to kill him so there won't be anymore pain. She looked at his sleeping form. A tear rolled down her porcelain cheek.

'Come on, Sakura, you can do it!' she tried encouraging herself. When she was about to stab him in the chest, she heard a low voice.

"Do it." Sakura's breath was caught in her throat. "You heard me. Do it."

The pinkette dropped the kunai, more tears traveling her cheeks. When she heard his voice, she suddenly couldn't bring herself to do it. She saw Sasuke getting up in a sitting position. He took the kunai and gave it to her. "Hold it." She heard him say. "Now do it." His voice was cold and distant, but the look in his eyes showed Sakura how deeply hurt he was. "Kill me. Anyway, I see you don't give a damn about me, so fulfill your stupid mission and go home."

Sakura shook her head.

"No." she said, sobbing. "I won't do it."

Suddenly, Sasuke got up from the floor and headed towards the door.

"Then why did you come here? Just for fun? Or maybe for an affair?" When Sasuke reached the door, he jerked his head towards her. "Say something!"

Sakura looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen. "I came here with the intention of killing you. But…"

"Hn." He turned around and opened the door. But before he could make another step, he felt two warm arms embracing him tightly. He closed his obsidian pools and let his head down. He felt her resting her forehead on his back. "After I would have killed you, I…" she stared crying harder and harder "I would have taken my life because, Sasuke-kun, I can't live without you! I love you!"

Sasuke was totally taken aback, you could tell by his wide eyes and his parted mouth. He took her arms off of him, took her hands in his cold ones and turned around to look into her jade eyes. "Say it again?"

Sakura smiled sweetly, tears still streaming down her face. "I love you…" she whispered. She closed her eyes and inhaled some air. Finally, she said it. She said it again after these years, and Sasuke seemed to like what she had just confessed.

"Do you love me?" she asked as she let her head on his chest. She felt Sasuke taking a large amount of air in his lungs and then released it in a heavy sigh. He wasn't saying anything. Sakura looked at the ground as she tightened the grip on his hands. Why wasn't he saying anything?

Sakura raised her head to look at him. He was avoiding her gaze.

"Why don't you answer?

But then it hit her. She widened her eyes in shock. It was because…

"You don't feel anything for me, do you?" the pinkette asked. Tears started forming in her emerald orbs.

After he heard that, Sasuke looked down at her with his mouth opened, prepared to speak. But no sound came out. He sighed. He didn't wanted to hurt her, but how could he explain to her that he doesn't know how to express his feelings? He didn't think she would have understood. And besides, when they were together, as a couple, he never told her that he loved her, but showed it to her.

"I guess not…" she whispered as she let go of his hands and was prepared to turn around and leave. Sasuke cupped her face with his hands.

"You're wrong." And with that said, Sasuke slowly leaned his head forward until his lips met Sakura's.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

"Where are they?" a masked man asked as he was nervously walking around a dark room. "They should have been back by now. He went to the window, hoping he will see them coming. It was 7 in the morning. The ball ended at midnight. Did Sasuke have any problems with catching the kunoichi? And if that was the case, Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu were there to help him. What could have possibly gone wrong?

He couldn't wait anymore so he decided to go and see what happened. He was on his way towards the castle when he saw three silhouettes walking through the woods, two kilometers from the castle. One of them was talking really loud. A woman.

"I wonder where Sasuke took her, though."

"It doesn't matter, Karin, because wherever they are, Madara isn't going to find them." A man said.

Madara narrowed his eyes. 'So, Sasuke and the others had betrayed me, eh?' He immediately turned around and ran in the direction of the three. 'They won't stand a chance against me.'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

They were sitting in a corner of the hut, embraced. The morning wind came in through the opened door, tickling both Sasuke's and Sakura's skin. Neither of them said a word. They just enjoyed each other's presence.

Sakura looked up at Sasuke, a big smile present on her reddish lips. She just couldn't believe they were together. She just couldn't believe that Sasuke, after all this time, still felt the same about her. She didn't even have to fulfill her mission. She was so happy. It was like a dream came true. But still, something bothered her. The Sasuke she was with in the hut wasn't like the one Masuda had described days ago. She was so confused…

"Sasuke-kun?" she spoke, barely audible.

"Hn?" He looked at her with his mysterious dark eyes.

"Is it true that you killed innocent people?"

Sigh

"No."

"But I've heard you-"

"No." he interrupted her. "What you've heard are just rumors. Or lies like the one that anbu told you."

The young medic gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean? You didn't kill his brother and many others?"

"No." he replied. "The only ones I killed were those who attacked me."

"Villagers?" Sakura arched her left eyebrow.

"No."

"Anbu?"

"Maybe one or two." he calmly confessed.

"But Masuda told me you killed many of his comrades!"

"Lies!"

"And what about his brother? Shizu Yuri?" she asked suspicious. "Did you kidnap him?"

Sasuke looked at the opened door. He sighed. "Yes."

Sakura looked at him, disappointment written in her eyes. "Did you kill him?" she whispered quietly, waiting for his answer.

"No. Madara did."

The pinkette let her head back on his chest. "Why did you agree on kidnapping for Madara? For the same reason you went to Orochimaru? Power? Revenge?" she started raising her voice. "You killed your brother, Sasuke-kun. You got your revenge…What else do you possibly want?"

The raven haired closed his eyes and imagined the face of the man he wants to kill. The scars on his chin, the dark brown hair, the bandage on his left eye…

"I want to kill he man that wanted our clan to be wiped out. Danzo."

Sakura widened her eyes. "Danzo?"

"He was the one who ordered Itachi to kill his clan."

"You mean Itachi-"

"Was forced to do it. He didn't do it because he wanted to! It was his mission!" Sasuke started yelling. Sakura crawled in front of him. She saw the look in her lover's eyes and it broke her heart. He was at the verge of crying.

"Who told you this?" she asked as she grabbed his hand and hold it tight.

"Madara." he simply replied.

"Too bad you didn't find out before you killed him…" Suddenly she saw a tear roll down Sasuke's pale skin. She moved closer to him and embraced him tightly while he buried his head in her chest. Sakura softly kissed his head multiple times while with one hand she was caressing his back. "Don't worry. I know it is hard for you Sasuke-kun. Right now, you feel like you really are alone on the world. I, even if you believe me or not, feel exactly the same. Lonely…I lost my family too and I regret it. But Sasuke-kun, we're not alone on this world. We still have each other. And I promise you, I will help you avenge your clan."

**xXx Secret Masquearde xXx**

"Tsunade-sama." A dark haired woman entered her office with a scroll in her hand. "We received this." She gave her the scroll and told her that it is from the Snow Country. The woman with honey like eyes immediately opened the scroll and started reading it, thinking that this was the report of the mission. After she finished reading it, she felt back on her chair, panic written in her eyes. Curious of what happened, Shizune asked her mentor.

"It's Sakura. She has been kidnapped by Sasuke." Tsunade took her hand to her forehead and sighed. "We need to send someone there to help the anbu search for her. Tell Sai to come here."

"Hai!" the woman replied and in less than a second, she was out of the office and on her way to get Sai. Tsunade look at the ground and closed her eyes.

'Hang in there Sakura. Help is on the way.'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Pretty lame chapter, don't you think? Well, it is obvious that I didn't give my best on this one. It was supposed to be different, but for some strange reason, it didn't come out as I expected. I'm so mad on myself!**

**Hope you enjoyed it, though. **

**I need to tell you that this story will end very soon. I just have to write another 2-3 chapters, and it will finally end. I'm deciding on writing a sequel, but only if my readers want it xD **

**Sorry if there are any mistakes, but I don't know what I have today. I'm so not enthusiastic about anything…lame excuse.**

**Please review and tell me your opinion!**

**Love you!**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey there! I know it's been days since I last updated, but believe me, this time I have a really good excuse: I found a part time job and every time I got home, I was soaked. It's not that I have something really hard to do, though. I have to stand up 6 hours, and it's boring! And my back hurts…**

**Back to the story :D**

**As I said in the last chapter, I will write two more chapters and it's done. So be ready because the next chapter will be the last *sniff sniff* **

**Again, thank you for your reviews! I love you so much! I will definitely miss my readers from this story because you guys are awesome!**

**Enjoy!**

**Secret Masquerade **

**~Chapter 18~**

Sai was in the Hokage's office, talking with her about this special mission he was assigned to. As soon as he heard Sakura's name and what happened to her, his mouth dropped. Sasuke kidnapped her? How? Sakura was a strong kunoichi. Nothing like that ever happened to her. It is true that Sasuke was strong too, even stronger than the pinkette, but still Sai couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"So your mission is to help the Snow Country's anbu search for her… "the honey eyed woman bit her lower lip "before it's too late. Understood?"

"Hai." the man replied while nodding.

"Because the Snow Country is almost a day away from Konoha, you will go there using a special transportation jutsu." Tsunade stood up and went in front of him. She put her palm on his head, closed her eyes and whispered the jutsu. And before she finished, she told Sai to bring Konoha's precious cherry blossom back safe and sound. After that he disappeared.

Suddenly, the Hokage heard someone knocking at the door. She sighed.

"Come in."

The door opened and inside came the man who was responsible for the Uchiha massacre. Danzo. Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she went back to her seat.

"What brings you here, Danzo?"

He snorted. "I just came to see if you received some information from Haruno about Uchiha." He took a seat on a chair in front of the desk. "So? Did Haruno kill the traitor?"

"No." Tsunade rubbed her temples. "It seems that Sasuke has abducted her."

Smirk

"I was certain the medic couldn't do it!" But after that he had a serious and worried look on his face which of course, he faked. "Will she be ok?"

"Sakura knows how to take care of herself."

"Oh…how can you be so sure?" he asked, surprised.

"Because I trained her."

"Ok, I understand, but we're talking about that damn Uchiha! He is a threat. He could kill her in a blink of an eye." he raised his voice.

"Sasuke may be strong, and he may have killed many, but he won't kill Sakura." She put her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her palms. "She was his teammate."

"Orochimaru." he hissed. "You were his teammate, and tell me, after he became a criminal, didn't he try to kill you numerous times?"

Tsunade cursed. 'Damn, he is right!'

"Tell me, Danzo, what do you have with Sasuke? Why do you hate him so bad?"

"He is a traitor!"

"Just because of that? I think it's something more…" she eyed him. "…personal."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

'What a bunch of idiots.' the masked man thought as he looked at the three ninjas before him. They were on the ground, badly wounded. Blood surrounded the three. Madara smirked. 'They were no match against me.' He was right. Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin were no match against him. In less than 5 minutes he beat them up so badly that it was a miracle if they still had one or two bones which were not broken.

The Uchiha went closer to the red haired and kneed besides her. He grabbed her face and leaned forward. "Listen closely, Karin. If you want you and your two friends to live, you must lead me where Sasuke took the medic-nin. Understood?"

"I don't know where they are…" she struggled to say. Madara snorted. He pulled her face closer to his then pushed it hard against the ground. Karin cried out in pain as more blood came out from the wound placed on the back of her head.

"Leave her alone!"

Madara immediately turned his attention to the silver haired man who was lying on the ground, 30 feet from the two. "Why?"

"She's my teammate!" he barked as he tried to stand up, even though he knew he couldn't because of the overwhelming pain.

"Is that so?" Madara smirked. "Isn't it because you have a thing for her?"

Both Karin and Suigetsu were frozen. Karin slowly turned her head to look at his teammate. She saw him looking straight at her. 'He…likes me?' she though as tears started to form in her crimson eyes. The man she considered annoying and called him in so many ways, was in love with her? How come she didn't notice? Was it because…'I was too concentrated on Sasuke…' Yes. She was too concentrated on a man that never ever noticed her or cared for her in that way….

Karin then looked at Madara as he got up and was about to walk over to Suigetsu. 'He's going to hurt him.' she though. 'I won't let that happen.'

"I'm going to help you…" she hardly said. "Just don't hurt him." Madara turned to her. "I will use my jutsu to track their chakra, even though I don't have much left." The masked man smirked.

"Smart girl." He picked her up bridal style.

'He isn't going to bring her back, I'm certain of that.' he though as he gritted his teeth. 'I must save her somehow.'

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

There was a pregnant silence in the hut. Well, it was normal. Why? Because the two lovers were not inside anymore. They were over at the river, Sasuke sitting on a stone while Sakura was playing in the cold water. She took a handful of that fresh water and threw it in the air with a cheerful smile on her face.

The young Uchiha looked at her almost smiling. She was acting like an 8 year old, but it didn't bother him. That was Sakura we are talking about. She was indeed a great ninja and medic-nin, but she was very childish sometimes and he kind of liked it.

Sakura walked through the water over to Sasuke. The pinkette sat down on the same stone as the raven haired. She let her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I can't believe they lied to me about you."

Sasuke chose to remain silent so he didn't reply. He took a big breath of air. 'Should I ask her?'

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Why you acted so strange we met two years ago?" she looked up at him with her smile no longer present on her lips. "You know, when I, Naruto, Sai and Captain Yamato came after you?"

"I had my reasons. "

"Tell me!" she pulled his arm as she narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't want you to be involved." he confessed. "If Orochimaru knew I still cared for you, he would have definitely done something bad to you, and I could not afford losing you."

Blush

"Another thing…" she started, the shade of pink still present on her cheeks. "You know after you attacked Naruto and Sai with your jutsu, I was coming after you and you had your sword in your hand and you were prepared to attack. What would have happened if Captain Yamato didn't interfere?"

"…"

"You would have hurt me, right?" she let her head down.

"Yes."

Sakura bit her lip. It hurt her to know that he indeed wanted to hurt her.

"I…" she heard Sasuke's voice "I would have done that only because Orochimaru was watching us. I wouldn't have injured you too badly."

'You should definitely ask her!'

"Earlier you said that Naruto told you he was sorry he couldn't fulfill his promise. What did he promise you?"

Sakura was totally caught off guard by his question, but answered immediately to it.

"Well, I made him promise…um…to bring you back to Konoha, to me." She closed her emerald pools. "I made him promise that after the night you left." Sakura sighed then smiled. "Well, that promise doesn't matter anymore because you'll be coming back."

After that, there was a moment of silence. Sakura had expected Sasuke to say something, or at least nod, but the only thing he did was stay still and silent. "You're coming back, aren't you?" Again, silence. Sakura bowled her hands into fists. She let her head down. From the way he acted, so careless, Sakura knew he wouldn't go back with her. She bit her lip hard until blood came out. The young medic got off the stone and went into the woods. Sasuke sighed and turned around, but there was no sign of her.

"Sakura!" he yelled, hoping the pinkette will reply. There was no answer to the call. He panicked. Sasuke suddenly got off the stone and started running in the direction his lover went. In less than 5 seconds, he reached her. He widened his eyes in pure shock. In front of him was not only Sakura, but Madara too. He held her in his arms while she was unconscious. He saw blood dripping from Madara's hands.

"What did you do to her?" he barked as he activated his Sharingan.

"No worry Sasuke, I haven't done anything to her, yet." He smirked underneath his mask. Sasuke looked like he would kill him in any second. "You betrayed me Sasuke…you and your little team of morons."

Sasuke looked at the ground and spotted his red haired comrade. She had tears in her bloody eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke…" she whispered.

Sasuke turned his attention back to the Akatsuki member in front of him. "Let her go." he demanded.

"Oh Sasuke! You really think I will let her go. I have to get my payback, you know." He started laughing. "And I'll get it when I will kill your beloved Sakura in front of you!"

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sai found himself in the middle of a hallway. He looked around and spotted a wooden door. He went in without any hesitation and found that inside the room were two men, apparently sleeping on the couch. He knocked at the door, hoping these men will wake up. And eventually, it did.

"Am I disrupting something?" the black haired said as he went in front of them. Both of them looked at the man, more precisely, they were looking at his headband. The Leaf's sign.

"Oh, no." Masuda smiled as he got up from the couch and went to shake hands with the ninja. "You must be the one the Hokage sent to help us find Sakura-san, am I right?"

"Yes." he simply replied.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" the other one asked as he arched his brows.

"Yes. I was the one spying on Sasuke before Sakura came." He looked around the room. "So…" he started "where do we begin from?"

"We will search the woods close to the castle. That's where Uchiha's teammates went after we fought them."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**I really hope you liked it, even though it sucks.**

**Eh, it seems the party is going to start! I really can't wait to write the last chapter, but it will take me a while because it will be very long…there will be a lot of interesting things happening :D**

**Thank you for reading the chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! I will start writing the last chapter as soon as I get some reviews xD**

**Can anyone guess what's going to happen next?**

**~sakura2cute4u~**

**P.S.- I am aware that there are mistakes, but I was rushing when I was writing and didn't get the chance to reread it.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Secret Masquerade**

**~Chapter 19~**

The cool morning wind passed Sai and the two anbu members. They were in the woods, desperately searching for the cherry blossom when they heard something. A branch breaking. Slowly, they made their way towards where the sound came from. Sai took his small katana from his scabbard and narrowed his eyes. What if they found Sasuke and Sakura? They needed to be careful.

They passed an old oak and saw two unconscious men sitting in a pool of blood, ravens all over the place. They immediately rushed to the two, wanting to see if they were alive. The ravens took off simultaneously, forming a black cloud on the grayish sky. Masuda and Hoshi searched for their pulse.

"They are still alive." They sighed in relief. Hoshi looked closer at the men's faces then gasped. "Aren't these Sasuke's teammates?" he asked as he turned around to face his comrade. Masuda looked at the man before him. Yes, they were them. He could recognize those shark teeth anywhere.

"But what happened here?" Sai asked as he approached the two. Hoshi looked around and spotted some fallen trees.

"There was a fight."

"We must take them to the hospital."

"What?" Masuda turned to Sai. "What for?"

"Well, after they will be stabilized and awake, they can give us some information regarding what happened and where are Sasuke and Sakura." Sai then pointed towards Hoshi and Masuda. "You two will take them back in the village. I'll go after Sakura." He turned around and was about to leave when Masuda grabbed his arm and Sai was forced to turn around. "What?" he asked.

"I'm going after Sakura-san."

Smirk

"I don't think so." Sai replied. Masuda looked at him, confusion written in his eyes. "She's _my _teammate." And with that said, Sai went deeper into the woods, letting Masuda and Hoshi carry Suigetsu and Juugo back to the hospital.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Madara wanted to kill his lover. But would Sasuke allow it? No. He instantly moved his hand to his side, trying to grab his katana. But he forgot one thing. His katana wasn't there. The raven haired left it in the hideout. And his holster too. He cursed under his breath.

"What's the matter, Sasuke?" The young Uchiha immediately turned his attention to Madara, who still had Sakura in his bloody arms. "Looking for this?" Madara said as he turned around letting the young Uchiha admire the sword he was looking for. He frowned. "You thought you would get away with it?"

"Leave her alone." Sasuke demanded as he bowled his hands into tight fists, ready to beat anyone in his path.

"You know…" Madara laid the medic on the wet grass and took the sword in his hand. "I can take her chakra even if she's dead."

Sasuke ran towards him while making some hand signs. Chidori appeared in his hand. Madara smirked.

"If you want to be the one who kills her, then go ahead. You're just doing the job for me."

At his words, Sasuke stopped and cursed. Suddenly, Chidori disappeared from his hand.

"Good boy." the older Uchiha said while laughing maniacally, but it didn't take long before he became serious again. "I don't get it Sasuke." The masked man started walking around Sasuke. "Why would you betray me? I said I will help you kill that damn Danzo!" he started yelling. "And how you thank me?"

"I did the dirty job for you, Madara! I was your stupid puppet, but not anymore!" the man with obsidian eyes barked as he appeared in front of Madara and launched a punch, hitting Madara in his mask, the mask falling on the ground, several feet away from them. As he was about to launch another one, Sasuke said "You made me kidnap people I didn't have anything to do with, and you fucking killed them!" But this time he missed. "The anbu didn't know about you! No one knew you were behind this! And now, everyone is desperately trying to kill me because I'm a murderer! You only fucking used me so you can come clean. You weren't going to help me kill Danzo." Sasuke took a big breath of air and looked up at the cloudy sky as he felt small droplets crashing against his face. 'Great. It's going to start raining.'

On the ground next to the red haired laid Konoha's kunoichi, unconscious. But at the touch of the cold droplets, the pinkette started to wake up, still feeling dizzy.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

They finally arrived at the hospital. At the sight on the two injured man, a nurse immediately paged a resident to help her with the patients. They took them in a room where they stabilized them. Finally, after 20 minutes, Masuda and Hoshi were allowed to go inside, as one of Sasuke's teammate was awake. Suigetsu hardly got up in a sitting position while wearing an oxygen mask.

"Where is Sakura?" Masuda asked as he calmly took a sit on the chair next to the silver haired man's bed. Suigetsu was breathing with difficulty, but soon answered.

"I don't know…"

"Liar!" Masuda yelled as he raised his hand at him. Before he could hit the poor injured man, Hoshi grabbed his arm.

"Calm down." he glared at him before returning his gaze at Suigetsu. "What happened back there, in the woods?"

It took a while before the shinobi remembered what happened.

"We were attacked by our leader…"

"Leader?" both anbu asked surprised. "Who?"

"Ma-Madara Uchiha." he hardly said.

'Madara Uchiha? Who the hell is he'? Hoshi asked as he took his hand to rub his temple.

"He wanted to know where…Sasuke took Sakura."

"Where did he take her? Is she alright?" Madara yelled as he furiously got up from his seat.

"She's fine. Sasuke is…" he took a big breath of oxygen before continuing his sentence "protecting her."

They were stunned. Protecting her? What the hell was that guy talking about?

"Sasuke is a murderer. He couldn't possibly protect her."

"You're wrong." Suigetsu whispered. "He isn't a murderer. He cares for her." Suddenly it hit him. He widened his eyes. "Karin…" he whispered. "She's with Madara. He uses her to track down Sasuke and Sakura. He wants to kill her."

"Shit!" Masuda cursed. "We must find them!" They were at the door when they heard the man saying something.

"Please, bring both my teammates back alive."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

"Sasuke-kun!" the pink haired kunoichi screamed as she ran towards him. He was on the ground, all covered in blood from his wounds. "Hang in there!" she said as she put her palm on his chest. With her other hand she performed a hand sign. The hand that was on his wound was now glowing green. Sasuke started coughing out more blood. He started to lose consciousness. 'Oh no!' she thought. She put her other hand on his chest, increasing the amount of chakra in his healing process. No matter how hard our kunoichi tried, Sasuke's wounds couldn't heal any faster. His heart was beating slower within every second that passed, until…

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?..." she whispered. Sakura laid her head on his chest and was shocked to hear nothing. His heart had stopped beating. She started to tremble as she raised her head, letting the rain wash away the salted liquid that was streaming down her face. He lover...was dead. The tears from her eyes fell on the body that was lying before her.

"No…no…no…" she kept saying to herself "This can't be-" she started to cry harder and harder as she screamed out his name. "Sasuke-kun! Wake up! Don't you dare die in front of me!" she screamed, still crying.

"It's no use!" she heard someone say. She turned her head and saw a man wearing an Akatsuki cloak. 'This must be Madara.'."He's dead. Stop wasting your chakra on him." As she heard that, her expression had changed. She was no longer upset, nor sad. She was angry…so angry that she could beat the crap out of him. She got up from the ground and slowly headed towards Madara. She grabbed a kunai from her holster. He smirked.

"So you think you can beat me by just using a kunai? Pathetic!"

Sakura ran towards him, but before she could even reach him, he disappeared. She was looking in every direction and spotted the damn man standing near Sasuke. Again, the kunoichi ran towards him, but he disappeared for the second time. Sakura stopped in her tracks and frowned.

"I don't like this game!" she yelled as she took her hands to her face to wipe some tears away. But then, she felt a hot breath against her neck.

"But I do." Madara whispered in her ear. He slowly pressed his katana against Sakura's neck, causing her a small wound. She cursed. "Don't worry." he said with a smirk on his lips. "You'll have the chance to meet Sasuke pretty soon." His blade dug deeper into her skin, causing Sakura to cry out of pain.

Suddenly the katana felt on the ground. Sakura's emerald orbs were wide.' What happened?' she asked herself as she dropped the kunai and placed her hands on her wound. She was too afraid to turn around. Sakura felt something flowing on her shoulder. She turned her head. 'Blood? But-'Then she heard something hit the ground. She looked down and saw Madara's body. 'Who did this?'

Sakura then heard a familiar sound, like chirping birds. The kunoichi slowly turned around and felt on her knees. A tear felt down as she took her hand on her mouth. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun…" Tears full of happiness rolled down her cheeks as she went closer to him. "You're alive…" she said as she put her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. She started to cry harder and harder, hugging him tightly.

"Sakura…you're hurting me."

"I'm so glad you're alive!" she said as she broke the hug "But how? Your heart had stopped beating"

Sasuke didn't reply, but Sakura didn't insist. She just kept smiling as she wiped away her tears. The kunoichi performed a hand sign and started healing him. The only things that mattered were that Sasuke was alive and Madara was dead.

"Finally, it's over…" she whispered as she sighed in relief. As she was healing Sasuke's chest, Sasuke noticed the wound on her neck.

"You should heal that." he whispered as he gently touched the skin around it. "It's still bleeding. He might have cut a major artery."

Sakura smiled. "It's nice you care about me, but I'll be ok. If he cut an artery then I should have been dead by now."

The rain stopped. The raven haired watched the pinkette as she continued healing him. He suddenly took his hand to her face and started caressing her cheeks with his bloody fingers. Thank God that was over.

"What a touching moment!" They looked in the direction from where the voice came and were shocked to see…

"Madara?" Sakura said while she got up from the ground. Sasuke immediately got up and went next to Sakura. "How did you-? You were next to us, dead!"

"Let's just say that looks can be deceiving." he smirked. The wind started blowing faster and faster. Leaves stared falling down as they danced in the wind. Sakura started walking towards where Madara was, but before she could make four steps, Sasuke grabbed her wrist. She turned her head. "Sasuke-kun? What are you-"

"This is not your fight." he said as he took his sword off the ground and into his hand. He pulled Sakura back as he started running towards Madara. Sakura screamed at him, but it was no use. He didn't stop. He didn't even turn his head. Sasuke aimed him with his katana and when he was about to attack, Madara grabbed the blade with his hand and grabbed Sasuke by his throat. He took the katana from his hand.

"Good boys can't play with sharp things." After he finished that sentence, he dropped the sword and tightened his grip on Sasuke's neck. With his free hand, he performed some hand signs before he hit Sasuke in the stomach hard, the young Uchiha hitting a tree trunk 20 meters away. Sasuke coughed out a lot of blood.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed as she started running towards him. Sasuke in that moment activated his Sharingan and jerked his head towards the pinkette, looking directly in her eyes. Sakura felt very dizzy and her vision was blurring. But before Sakura could fall unconscious on the ground, Sasuke whispered something to Sakura, something that she will remember all her life.

"I love you."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Sai was running through the woods anxious. Earlier he heard a female voice scream and then he saw some trees falling down. His legs were hurting from all the running, but he didn't care. He was certain that the girl he heard screaming was Sakura, but he was also worried. If that voice indeed belonged to Sakura, then something really bad happened. Did Sasuke try to kill her? The trees see saw falling were the result of Sakura and Sasuke's fight? He needed to hurry.

After a few moments he heard a horrible sound that sent shivers down his spine and made him quicken his pace. Someone was crying out of pain. Sai was near the place he saw the trees falling. He hid behind a tree as he saw two men on their knees, one with a sword in his hand, and the other one with the same sword in his stomach. Suddenly he realized the man with the sword in his stomach was no other than Sasuke Uchiha. He looked at the other man and saw that he wore an Akatsuki uniform, but he didn't recognize him. He decided to stay there and watch what was happening. Maybe then, he though, he would had understood what was happening.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, Sasuke." The man that was talking was full of opened fractures and blood on his face and cloak. Sai looked at his face and saw he was exhausted. Sasuke snorted.

"The only thing you're sorry for is that you have no one to do your dirty jobs for you."

"Maybe you're right." He panted. "But there will no longer be needed help after I absorb your precious lover's chakra and leave her lifeless. " Madara smirked as he turned his head to Sakura who was lying on the ground.

Something snapped inside of Sasuke. He concentrated all his chakra for one more hit. He closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke ignored him and after a while he opened them back and smirked. Electricity ran through the sword and hit Madara, making him let go of the sharp weapon as he fell on his side. The Konoha shinobi came out of his hiding spot and slowly walked over to Sasuke who was breathing heavily. Before he could reach him, he saw Sasuke slowly taking out the sword and getting up. Sasuke then turned around and went to his lover, not noticing that someone was there. He collapsed next to her. Sai, alarmed, ran to them and kneed in front of Sasuke.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he looked at him in the eye.

"Take her back." he heard Sasuke whisper as the raven haired turned his head to look at the cherry blossom. Sai looked at him puzzled.

"What?"

"Take her away from here." His voice was shaky.

"Is she alright?" He saw Sasuke nod before he saw him cupping her face and kissing her forehead.

"After she will wake up, tell her I died in battle. Tell her to forget me."

"Why?" Sai couldn't understand why Sasuke had asked him to do that. Sasuke got up from the ground and started walking away even though he was barely standing on his feet.

"I don't want her to suffer anymore..." He stopped in his tracks. "She wanted me to come back to Konoha with her, but I can't. I know she would have decided to stay with me, but it's too risky. You know Danzo wants me dead and Sakura, by spending time with me, would be in danger." He then started walking again. "I can't afford losing her, so take care of her, now that Naruto is no longer on this world."

Sasuke walked deeper into the woods before he fell on his knees. He grabbed his silky hair and tightened his grip as he gritted his teeth. It was all over. Tears rolled down on his face as he kept whispering her name. His heart had shattered into pieces. He was never going to see her again…and it hurt him so damn bad. But it was his decision. He wanted so bad to go with her, to hold her in his arms every day from then forever, but he didn't want her to suffer even more. It was better like that.

He let go of his hair and looked at the injuries he had. He didn't care how bad they were, how deep they were or how much it hurt him. He knew those type of wounds heal, but the wound he had in his heart will be there forever, reminding him of his former teammate and lover, reminding him of the decision he made that day, a decision he though was right.

Suddenly, he heard someone scream his name. He turned his head, recognizing her voice…her sweet voice. 'She must have woken up…'

A few minutes had passed and he was still in the same position. His head was still turned in the direction he knew his lover was. He saw her face; he saw her looking in his way. He hoped that maybe, she would see him hiding behind those trees.

"Goodbye" he whispered as he closed his eyes "forever…"

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

Shortly after Sasuke left, Sakura had woken up. She looked up at the man before her and was shocked to see her teammate. She immediately got up in a sitting position as she realized something.

"Sasuke-kun…Where is he? Is he alright?" She looked over Sai's shoulder and saw Madara lying in a pool of blood, breathless. "What happened?" she turned her attention to Sai as she asked that.

"Sasuke…he's not here. He is…" He gulped. It was hard to lie to her, knowing how she will react. Eventually, he found the courage to finish his sentence. "…dead."

Sakura was stunned. She felt as if a man cut up the only wire that kept her alive. She felt lifeless. She felt she was suffocating. Sai looked at her and figured out she was having a panic attack. He turned his head to where Sasuke went. 'Are you happy now?'

"Sasuke-kun!" she screamed as loud as she could. Tears streamed down her porcelain skin as she hit the ground with her fists. "This can't be happening! Sasuke-kun!" she screamed once again as she started crying louder and harder than before. She looked at Sai with swollen red eyes. "Then where is he? I can't see his body here!"

A while after she woke up, Masuda and Hoshi arrived and took her and Karin to the hospital where their wounds would be treated. All that time, Sakura kept whispering his name like crazy with tears in her eyes. They hated to see her crying like that after him, but things soon took a turn for the worst when they arrived at the hospital and Sasuke's comrades found out what happened.

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

It's been two days since Sakura was told that Sasuke was dead. Since then, she didn't stopped thinking about him and crying. She was looking out the hospital window and spotted the full moon rising on the sky. She grabbed the white sheets with both her hands and held it tightly. She bit her lip.

"Sasuke-kun…this is the third time I see the full moon since you're gone. And I just realized something. On the day you died the moon was full, so was in the day you first walked away. Sasuke-kun, you walked away from me for the second time…you left me all alone again."

**xXx Secret Masquerade xXx**

**Well, that's it! Finally, after a year and some months I finished it! I really hope you like it folks because I enjoyed writing it so much that now I'm in pain and I regret finishing it. lol**

**Sorry I skipped the fights, but the story wasn't focused on them, but on Sasuke and Sakura. Wow, what a lame excuse. I'm not good at writing action, so sorry. I think that Sasuke is kinda OOC in this chapter and I hope it didn't bother you too much.**

**I want to thank my readers for reading this story, especially those who reviewed. You guys are awesome! I will miss you so damn much!**

**And now, I have a question for you: do you want me to write a sequel or should I leave it like that? Please review and tell me. I would also want you in your review to tell me if you honestly liked it and what you liked the most or the least in the story because I'm aching to now.**

**If I receive reviews in which you say you want a sequel, I'll let you know when it's up :D**

**Love you!**

**~Sakura2cute4u~**

**p.s.- if you find mistakes, just ignore them. I didn't reread the chapter! I will edit it when I have time!**


	21. Sequel released!

**Hello my dear readers! I promised I will announce you when the sequel is done, haven't I?**

**Well, I must say that the first chapter is released, so if you want to read it, it's called 'All this time I was living lie'**

**I also want to thank you for your reviews, those who I haven't already. I'm sorry it took a while to write it, even though it isn't as I expected it to turn out, but I was really busy with school.**

**Hope you'll like it :D**

**Love you**

**~Sakura2cute4u~ **


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